A/N: Here ya go! Another chapter! Reviews would be really awesome!

Chapter Five

In Which She Faced Reality

Arabella was nearly shaking from her head to her feet. The table was so quiet that it felt like she was choking on the silence. On the one side sat the scary old man with the funny eye. He had insisted that he sat beside her in case she tried anything "funny". On the other side sat Sirius, which she wouldn't have minded at all, but he was obviously upset that she had been discovered. In front of her sat Remus, his facial expression grim. In her heart she couldn't help but feel betrayed by him. Why didn't he let her go when he found her and Sirius?

Gripping her hands into fists, she stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry. I'm not very hungry. I think I'll just go wait up in the room with Buckbeak."

"Nonsense!" said Mrs. Weasley. "You shouldn't be staying in the same room as that animal. Who knows how dirty that room may be? Honestly Sirius, couldn't you have the decency to hide her somewhere else?"

"I'm not a barbarian!" Sirius said. "I keep mother's room clean enough and Arabella didn't complain about it. Right Arabella?"

"Well…no…"

"Dear, there is no reason for you to be kind to hide the truth…" said Mrs. Weasley. Sirius settled back into his seat in a sign of defeat. "Now, why don't you tell as a bit about yourself?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Where do you live? What's your family like?"

"Oh…um…well…I live in Radiance Court with my father and Nana."

"Who's Nana?" One of the boys asked with his mouthful.

"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley scolded, before Arabella answered. "Nana is our maid. She has watched over me since I was little."

One of the other boys, one of the twins, let out a low whistle. "So…you're a rich girl."

"George!"

The other twin laughed. "I'm George, he's Fred."

"It doesn't matter which is which! You two better not say anything of the likes of that to her!"

"Is your home big?" The young girl asked excitedly.

"I…I guess so. It is a bit big for three people, but the room is needed for when father holds company parties and the like."

"Really! Is there dancing and stuff? Do the people come in fancy dresses?" The girl pressed.

"Well…we don't dance often. Parties are mostly for socializing and networking." Arabella said truthfully.

"That doesn't sound fun at all!" One of the twins exclaimed.

"It does seem rather boring…" Sirius agreed offhandedly.

"It is… it also gets very tiresome hosting the parties as well. Father loves showing me off to all his peers."

Mrs. Weasley's lips puckered. "Your father shouldn't be doing things like that…"

Arabella shook her head. "I don't mind at all. I need practice performing in front of people anyways."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "What is that you do?"

She blushed. "I…play the piano."

"Really!" Remus sounded a bit shocked. "Of course, if you have such an upbringing, I guess it shouldn't be surprising that you're schooled in the arts."

"Yes…my father tried to get me to expand my musical talents, but the only other instrument I learned to play is the violin. He tried to have me take singing lessons, but they went rather horribly."

"What happened? You seem like the type of girl who could sing." Ron asked.

"I can't. My old singing instructor called me an amateur and not suited for classical music. I can barely carry a tune. It takes me a very, very long time to learn to sing a song properly or without running out of breathe or…"

Sirius cut her off. "I think we get it."

"I would love to hear you sometime." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Sing?" Arabella shook her head. "I just said…"

"No…play one of your instruments. Sirius, doesn't your family have a piano lying around somewhere?"

Sirius gave her a look. "Who on Earth has a piano simply lying around? I doubt anybody in my family played anything. Then again, who knows what we will find in this house..."

"Sirius…is this your home?" Arabella asked.

"I guess you can call it that." Sirius mumbled. "Dumbledore is using it for…"

WHACK.

Silence.

Sirius' left cheek was covered in mashed potatoes. Everyone sat in absolute shock. Arabella turned slowly to her left to look at the scary man next to her. He was eating like nothing happened at all.

"Mad-Eye…" Sirius growled. "You're a full grown wizard! Can't you use your wand!"

"I'm sorry my hand slipped. My grip isn't like it used to be." The older man grumbled.

Arabella couldn't help but laugh. For a grumpy old man, this "Mad-Eye" person was quite humorous. Sirius on the other hand didn't think it was that funny. "Will you stop laughing?" He asked Arabella.

"S-sorry…it was just so unexpected…" She took her napkin and began to help Sirius clean the potatoes of his face.

Sirius took the napkin from her. "I can do it myself…"

Arabella simply smiled up at him.

Remus cleared his throat. "Maybe Sirius should switch places with someone else…"

"I wouldn't mind switching with Sirius!" Fred raised his hand.

"Neither would I!" George chimed in.

"Nobody is switching with anyone." Mrs. Weasly announced. "Honestly, we've only just started eating. Let's just eat in peace…without any food fights…" She glared over at Mad-Eye, who continued eating without a care.

"Oh, isn't Hermione coming tomorrow morning?" Ginny asked.

"That's right. Could you put the bed sheets on her bed? I forgot to do that earlier today…"

"Isn't Harry coming here tomorrow night too?" George spoke up.

"Who's Hermione and Harry?" Arabella decided to ask.

"She's the smartest girl at our school and Harry…" said Ron.

Arabella's eyes brightened up. "So…you guys have a magic school then?"

The table went quiet, before Fred frowned. "Way to go Ronald…"

Arabella was beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable again. "I'm sorry, but can I ask something? Why is it you guys live in secret?"

"Well, it's almost always been this way," Remus informed her. "Ever since the beginning wizards have had to be careful of muggles…"

"What's a muggle?"

"A person that can't use magic. You see, if we were to make our existence known, then muggles would come to wizards for help with a lot of things…it's best that we keep our worlds separate." Remus explained.

"I see…"

The rest of the dinner went along with light chatter about this and that. The children, particularly Ron, were cut off many times to keep from slipping more information about the wizarding world, so most of the conversation was focused on Arabella instead.

By the end of dinner everyone was pleasantly full. Mrs. Weasley charmed the plates into the sink, while everyone was still sitting around the dining table. There was only one issue left. What to do with Arabella for the night?

"Since no one extra is staying the night, she can use one of the spare rooms." Mrs. Weasley suggested.

"We'll have to take shifts watching her…" Mad-Eye grumbled.

"It isn't necessary for you and Remus to stay here." Sirius started. "I can just watch her the whole night."

Mad-Eye laughed. "And have you try and sneak her out again? I don't think so."

"I'm not going to! You all already know about her now so…"

"Personally I think Sirius just wants some one on one time with Arabella." Fred and George snickered. Their younger brother and sister blushed along with Arabella.

"Will you lot please go to your rooms now? There's nothing left to see here…" Mrs. Weasley ordered, starting to push them out of the kitchen.

Remus sighed. "Listen Sirius, I know how you might…feel about this situation. But you don't have the credibility to…"

"I don't mind if you and Molly watch her, but Mad-Eye…" Sirius had nothing against the ex-auror, however he didn't want Mad-Eye to start frightening the girl, or threatening her, or anything crazy for that matter.

"If anyone should watch over here it should be me…" Mad-Eye growled.

"Ummm…" Arabella spoke up. "It's still pretty early so I'd like to…uh…" Her courage faltered. There was no way she could bring herself to say it. She just looked at Sirius.

"Well then, how about this…" Remus started. "Arabella can stay with Sirius until midnight. Then while she's sleeping I can watch over her. You have things to take care of don't you Mad-Eye? You said something about it earlier tonight."

Mad-Eye grumbled something incoherent, before agreeing. "Fine. I'm counting on you Remus."

Glad that the matter was settled, Sirius took Arabella's hand and took her upstairs again.

"I'm sorry…for making you have to fight with your friends."

Sirius shook his head. "I don't mind much really. I would have felt bad if you were stuck with Mad-Eye of all people for the rest of the night."

She couldn't help but smile. "Are we going back to Buckbeak's room?"

"Yeah, I can't take you to my room because it…well…it's a bit messy…" Sirius said, the picture of muggle pin up posters came to mind as he said it. He really should get around to taking those down. He wasn't a teenager anymore anyways. The thought made him flinch; it reminded him of his age.

When they reached his Mother's room, Arabella went right up to Buckbeak and began petting him. "Sirius, what will happen to me tomorrow? I still don't really understand…they said something about veritseum or something…?"

"Oh, veritaserum is a potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth. So there isn't really anything for you to worry about, you'll end up just saying everything you already told them."

She sighed with relief, but frowned. "What will happen to me after? I'll have to leave right?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Will they just let me go then? Without doing anything?"

"We wouldn't do anything to harm you. You haven't done anything wrong…well except for breaking an entry…" He chuckled lightly, but it died almost immediately.

Her eyebrow rose. "What's wrong?"

"Well…" He debated on whether he should tell her not. In the end he decided it was best for her to know as much as she can. "…afterwards, they'll probably wipe your memory before you can go home."

She smiled sadly, her fingers still buried in Buckbeak's feathers. "I'm not surprised." Her hand clenched, causing Buckbeak to squawk. "But I don't want to forget about you Sirius."

Without giving it a second thought, he reached out and turned her around. Before she could say a word, he kissed her. It was as though her lips were electric. The feeling of them against his own gave him a thrill he hadn't felt in a while. As he pulled away, Arabella moved in to steal another kiss. Wrapping her arms around him, she didn't want to separate. Before she knew it, her hands were beginning to shake. "I really don't want to forget you Sirius." She repeated.

He couldn't think of a word to say that could provide comfort to her. He laid her out on the bed and admired her beauty, before going in for another kiss. She accepted it happily. The kisses, the touches, the small moans, they seemed to last an eternity, until Sirius stopped and simply held her close to him.

Together they felt each other breathing, each other's warmth, and each other's heart beats.

"Sirius…I…"

He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry Arabella. Even if you forget, I won't forget. So don't worry…"

Arabella choked a sob and buried her face into his chest.

"If only…"

"If only…"

"If only…"

These two accursed words, in the end, couldn't change a thing, no matter how much they prayed, no matter how much they wished. They could only cherish the short amount of time they had together and wait until the clock stroke midnight.