The next day at breakfast, Harry, Ron and Hermione filled Arianna in about what Hermione had told the boys the night before.
"What could it be guarding?" She asked, the three shrugged their shoulders, telling her they didn't have a clue.
"But that's what we need to find out!" Hermione said just as the mail arrived. Harry looked in shock as he saw Hedwig flying with a rather large package, she flew off after dropping it infront of Harry.
"But I never get mail!" Harry said in shock as he looked at the package.
"well don't make us wait, open it!" Ron said eagerly, and the four of them helped rip open the package to find a Nimbus 2000, the latest model of broomstick! They all gasped as they looked at the beautiful broom stick.
"But who?" Harry asked and looked around, finally resting his eyes upon Professor McGonagall, Arianna, Hermione, and Ron all followed his gaze and saw their head of house, smiling at them, while petting Hedwig.
"Of course! She got you a broom for the quiditch team Harry!" Hermione explained.
The next week was the first Quiditch game of the season, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. The game was going quite well, and Arianna was laughing at Jordan's commentary and Professor McGonagall's scoldings when he became biased towards his house team.
But then suddenly something funny began to happen to Harry's broom. It began to jolt and rock, as if trying to make him fall. Arianna sat on the edge of her seat, not knowing what to do. But luckily Hermione spotted Snape muttering something, and not moving his eyes off of Harry. So she ran over and set his cape on fire. When Snape noticed his robes were on fire and began to put them out, Harry's broom went back to normal and he continued to play the game. In the end Harry caught the snitch, in his mouth! And won the game for Gryffindor!
After the game the four of them went to see Hagrid, who congragulated Harry on the game. They began to talk about how Hermione noticed it was Snape who was cursing Harry's broom.
"Nonsense! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom!?" Hagrid asked shocked that they would even think such a thing.
"Who knows! Why was he trying to get past that three headed dog on Halloween!?" Harry retorted.
"Who told you about Fluffy!?" A voice suddenly said from behind them, making all four of them jump.
"That thing has a name!?" Ron asked shocked, after realizing it was only Hagrid.
" 'Course he's got a name, he's mine! I bought him off an Irish feller I met down at the pub last year, then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"
"Yes?" Harry asked hoping Hagrid would tell them what 'Fluffy' was guarding.
"I shouldn't have said that. No more questions! Don't ask any more questions! That's top secret, that is!" Hagrid told them, scolding himself.
"But Hagrid! Whatever Fluffy's guarding Snape's trying to steal it!" Harry said, trying to reason with Hagrid to get him to tell them what Fluffy was guarding.
"Codswallop! Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher!"
"Hogwarts teacher or not! I know a spell when I see one! I've read all about them You've got to keep eye contact and Snape wasn't blinking!" Hermione said.
"Now you listen to me! All four of you! You're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous! What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel." He sternly told them, then realizing what he had said.
"Nicholas Flamel?" Arianna asked not knowing who he was.
"I shouldn't have said that! I should not have said that!" Hagrid said scolding himself, walking off before the four of them could ask anymore questions.
"Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Arianna asked them, but they all shook their heads.
"I don't know." Hermione said.
Soon it was Christmas time and everyone was preparing. Hagrid had brought in the Christmas trees and Professor Flitwick was putting the decoration on them. The students who were going home for Christmas were packing their things up and getting ready to leave the next week.
Professor McGonagall was going around the Gryffindor table that morning at breakfast asking who was going home and who would be staying for Christmas.
"Mr. Potter, will you be going home to your relatives for Christmas this year?" Minerva asked Harry as she came up to the group of four sitting together.
"No, Professor, I'm staying" he answered looking up from his game of wizards chess with Ron, Minerva nodded and looked to Ron.
"Me too Professor, mum and dad have gone to Romania to visit Charlie." He told them and Minerva then assumed all the Weasly children would be staying.
"I'm going home to see my parents." Hermione told her excitedly, Minerva smiled and nodded as she wrote it down.
"And what about you Miss Winters, will you be staying or leaving?" Minerva, though she was sure she knew the answer.
"I'm staying Professor." Arianna said turning towards Minerva, as she did so Minerva got a glimpse of her locket again. Trying to hide her reaction, she nodded and moved on to the next set of students.
"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione said watching the game of Wizard's Chess, after McGonagall had left.
"That's Wizard's Chess! I see you've packed." Ron said noticing her bags.
"See you haven't" said Hermione, noticing his lack of bags.
"Change of plans, my parents have decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie, he's studying Dragons there." Ron told them.
"Good, you can help Harry and Arianna. They will be going to the library to look up information about Nicholas Flamel." She said matter of factly.
"We've looked a thousand times!" Ron said not wanting to be in the library anymore than he had to.
"Not in the restricted section." Arianna informed them.
"Exactly! Happy Christmas." Hermione said as she left the hall.
"I think we have had a bad influence on them!" Ron told Harry. Arianna laughed and rolled her eyes.
Albus was back today and Minerva was going to tell him about Arianna. She said the password to the gargoyle, who jumped aside to let her pass.
She knocked on the door to his office and after an 'enter' was heard she opened the door and walked through.
"Minerva." Albus said and stood up meeting his wife. He kissed her hello and embraced her with a hug. They sat down on the couch in front of the fire place and Minerva leaned into her husband.
"I missed you." She said.
"I missed you too, but I'm back, for now at least. How have you been?" He asked, knowing he hadn't been there for her on the anniversary of their daughters kidnapping.
"Albus, it's her! Arianna Winters is our Arianna!" Minerva began and Albus shook his head and sighed.
"Minerva please, we've been over this." He said but Minerva shook her head.
"No Albus it really is her! She has the locket! I've seen it!" Minerva told him and he suddenly looked at her shock in his eyes.
"I asked her where she had gotten it from and she said she had had it ever since she could remember, Albus, it's her." She said smiling, tears coming to her eyes.
Albus knew Minerva wouldn't make something like this up. He also had been doing some digging and found that Voldemort couldn't have gotten his hands on their daughter, he had disappeared at the same time that she was kidnapped, so there was a chance, the deatheaters probably wouldn't want anything to do with the girl once their master was gone and all it took was one person with a heart, not to kill her.
Though he still wasn't 100% sure himself that it was his daughter, he believed Minerva.
"You mustn't tell her yet Minerva." Albus said and Minerva looked at him confused.
At Minerva's confused look he continued, "I don't want her in any danger. I don't trust Professor Quirell. If she knows then she could be in great danger." He explained and Minerva nodded in understanding.
After she left his office, Albus went down to see Poppy, and then Severus.
Severus opened the door to his chambers to find the headmaster standing on the other side of it.
"Good evening Severus, I wonder if I might come in for a moment?" He asked and after Severus moved aside Albus entered the chamber.
"What can I do for you Albus?" Severus asked standing behind Albus who was facing the fire place.
"I am in need of a potion. An identity potion." He said turing around.
Seeing his confusion Albus continued, "You see there is a chance that a student here is my daughter, Minerva greatly believes this, but I on the other hand am not so sure. Of course i would love for this girl to be my child, but if it isn't, I don't want the pain of getting my hopes up and it not being her." He said not saying which student he was talking about. Severus nodded, a look of thought in his face.
"If I may, who is this student?" He asked carefully.
"Of course, the child thought to be our daughter is Arianna Winters." He said, Severus nodded slowly, remembering the scared child in his potions class.
"Will you make the potion?", Albus asked, "if not for Minerva and I, then for Miss Winters, she deserves to know who her parents are." Albus finished and Severus nodded.
"Good, now I understand that blood is needed for the potion, so I have brought you a vile of both Minerva's and my own blood, and also Miss Winters blood, kindly given by Madam Pomfrey, from when Miss Winters was here in the summer." Albus said giving him the three vials.
"The potion should be ready within three days." Severus told him.
"Thank you Severus." Albus said and left the chambers.
Here is the next chapter! Chapter 19 is in the works! Sorry this one is kinda short, but hope you enjoy anyway!