Chapter 38
Sirius and Harry walked up to the castle. The hell that had been the Dursleys was over for another year. And it hadn't been as bad as he had been expecting, Harry had to say. Not with Sirius there. He had been true to his word and he had seen him every day, for most of it. He was so angry that Dumbledore had sent him back, even if they knew about the blood bond and it was Albus Dumbledore that Sirius had seen fit to blame for this, even if they had known for a year.
But there was a Dumbledore he was most eager to see. And she was waiting for him on the steps.
On sight of each other, the two teenagers both begun to smile. Throwing his bags down Harry run up to Ariana trying to forget everything what had gone on as he took her back into his arms. It had been a living hell for the both of them, being apart.
"Oh my god, I missed you beyond all belief, you don't even understand." she whispered to him as he held her for the first time since he had got home and thank god he had. She didn't know what she would have done if he had been apart much longer.
"Oh I really think I do," he laughed for the first time in days but he appreciated the sentiment. He was sure it had been just as hard for him as it had been for her, them being apart. It had been an ache in his heart.
Putting her down he kissed her, not letting go of her even the,.
"Ok, one I think the two of you both need a cold shower, and two I am your godfather and you friend. I know this is going on but I don't need to see it." teased Sirius making the teenagers laugh.
"Can we go down to the lake together for a bit?" she said to him. She wanted to have a bit of time with him before the adults all started fussing about.
"Yeah go on . I'll put your bags away in the tower Harry. But I want you both in before sun down, Harry we need to talk too." he had to tell his godson about the work of the Order, and to make sure he understood.
He knew he had made the right choice about letting them go off for a while. If everything that had happened to Harry had had happened to him, he knew when he got back the first thing he would want to do would be to tell his best friend everything.
Of course, they were a bit more than friends.
-
"I was so worried over you all the time that you were away," she said as she lay in his arms.
The two of then had arrived at the lake and had collapsed into one another's arms. Putting her head on to his shoulder she felt his body behind her. His arms snaked round her. This what was he had been longing for. All the time they had been away from one another. Had it really just been a week,
She had missed feeling him there so much.
"I thought my brothers were going to do my head in while you were away, they were telling me all this stuff about Voldemort and I didn't want to hear it. I just wanted to forget everything except you and me. I wanted it to be real that he wasn't back. I wanted it to be just us."
"I know. All the time that I was with Sirius and my uncle and aunt. All I could think of was getting back to you. Especially after I got your letter. I wanted you so much." he said as he kissed her ear.
He had never noticed how cute her ear was before.
"Lets just forget all of that now it isn't important." said Harry to her. He didn't want to remember. He just wanted a bit of affection from her.
"No. Your right. Lets think about something good. Like our birthdays." she smiled.
"Can you believe it has been a year since the joint party?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "We have known each other for a year now. It has been the happiest year if my life. Do you know what for the very first time in my life I feel as if I am seeing clear? There isn't any madness. I just feel as if I can breathe the free air and I can see the trees. And I know I should feel as if everything is so sad and terrible. But I can't. I can't start thinking like that because I have to believe in a future where we can come through tomorrow stronger."
"And there is going to be that tomorrow. It might take a while to come but it is so coming."
Letting out a sigh, he shut his eyes. He didn't want to talk anymore. He just wanted a bit of time to think and sit still and get ready for his talk with Sirius. There was no doubt in his mind it was going to be much heavier than the one he had had with Ariana.
He wondered if she was going to be there with him when they had the chat. She had to understand too and he had been speaking to them both.
Feeling he just wanted to relax she kept hold of his hands and shut her eyes too. For now they were in Hogwarts, they were hidden by the trees and they were alone. They were safe.
And there was no need to disturb the peace either of them found.
-
It turned out that indeed Ariana was going to be talking with Sirius about the Order band it wasn't just the three of them. It was her brothers too.
They wanted them both to understand. She wondered if she had been invited because they knew Harry would tell her anyway or because it was genuinely important she understood.
Albus begun by telling them about the function of the Order and what it was for.
She had to say despite the seriousness of it all she found the thought of being in a secret society quite exciting. It was like something they would have played for make believe as a child. Only she had to remind herself, this was not make believe on any level. There were real people out there who wanted to do them harm.
Harry sat listening for the entirety of the adults talking and she knew at times he had to restringing himself from protesting there points about the Dark Lord. But perhaps he realised that while this Dark Lord, despite being a catalyst in his life was in actual fact little more than a concept before now. Suddenly he was real to him, he had become real on every level. To all of them.
The Order he knew was a fighting Order. They were going to do something. They were going to have actions to back up their words. War was on the way and there was absolutely nothing they could do to stop it.
"I want to join it." he said to her.
"Well you can't son, not yet." Sirius said to him. "You cannot join as you are still at school. And I intend for this to be over by the time you get out of it."
"So do I, but you have told me I am the chosen one or whatever."
"So we have to protect you."
"But-"
"No buts Harry. You have to know what is going on but you are going to have no part in it."
The frustration he felt was unspeakable. He thought perhaps as he watched Ariana's reaction she might indeed be having the same emotions running through her as he was. But of course, she had always been protected. She had never had to fight for his life as he had. He knew she was probably going to lay down and take the protection they were offering them. But he didn't know if he could. If the Order was going to be fighting then he knew he wanted to be by their side. He had to be in it. Voldemort was the reason he had never known Lily and James. He was the reason that when Sirius got out of jail that his best friends weren't there to greet him. He and Peter were the reason he had gone there in the firsts place,
"I have to have a part of it, don t you see it?" he asked in his frustration. He had to get across to them how important this was to them.
"This is going to have a impact on all of us, so we all have to fight for the better, don't you see it?"
-
"We all have to fight…" muttered Ariana as she sat in the living room at the pub.
How Aberforth had wished she had not been there when Harry had learnt everything that was surrounding him and the Order. He had been wrong to let her go into that room, he saw that now. He had let her down.
"Save you my darling." her brother said as he sat by her side. He had known that was going to be a question that was on her mind. When he had heard her say so he had been behind her. "I know you think you are well again. But you have missed so much in the years you were ill and you are so young. You're the only innocence left in my world." he said more to himself than to her as he stroked a strand of her hair out of her face. "Darling I want you to have a childhood before you reach such an age when you can't." he said taking her hand. "You are a child. I know you like to think that since you and Harry are together you have grown. But there is something in your eyes that tells mere all I have ever needed to know about my darling sister. don't grow up too soon. Don't fight."
"Oh Aba," she sighed with a heavy heart. "What is going to become of us?" reaching out her hand, she grazed his cheek with her thumb. When she raised her head from looking at the fire to him, he saw clearly that tears had gathered in her bright eyes.
The top of there heads kissed as their forehead met and he shook his head.
"I wish I knew. But I beg you trust me."
"You are my brother. But asides that you are my oldest, most loyal and faithful friend. I trust no one above you. Not even Harry."