Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters... Just wanted to make that clear... haha

This story is rated T for foul language

Chapter 7

Ari's POV

I wake up lying on the stone floor clutching the cold, white porcelain basin. I groan and roll onto my back. I pull off the blanket that covers me and stand up. I examine myself in the mirror and groan again. My disheveled hair is pulled up into a messy bun with random strands hanging out and my face is still a bit pallid, making the soft freckles on my nose more prominent. I turn on the tap and splash some cold water on my face then I take my hair down and run a brush through it. I continue to look at myself with disgust and decide a shower is just what I need.

After spending an eternity in the shower, I step out and dry off. I wrap my towel around myself and walk out to my room. I hear snoring coming from my bed so I look over there. Curled up on his side on the middle of my bed is a sleeping Landon. I smirk and tip toe over to my dresser. I get a new set of clothes and silently make my way back to the bathroom. I get dressed and grab my toothbrush then I brush my teeth at least three times, each time trying to get the imaginary vomit taste out of my mouth. After I feel that I've adequately cleaned off last night's nastiness, I dry my hair and put it into a braid. I look at my watch and frown. 7:56 am…

I pick up the blanket I was covered with and quietly open the bathroom door, tiptoeing out into my room and tossing the blanket over into Landen's party clothes pile from last night. I grab my Gryffindor quidditch blanket out of my trunk and silently walk over to my bed, draping the blanket over Landen. He shifts slightly as the blanket touches him. I get on my bed and grab his Defense Against Dark Magic book. I open the book and start from where I left off yesterday.

(Break)

I finish the book and set it down on my dresser. I look at my watch again. 10:35 am…

I grab a pillow and raise it up, ready to hit him with it, when I remember that he DID try to take care of me last night. I should probably be nice…

I set the pillow down with a sigh and scoot up behind him, resting my chin on his shoulder. I grab the end of my braid and lightly drag it over his face, the tips of my hair softly dancing across his nose. "Hey Lan. Time to get up…"

He slaps at my hand and groans. I let out a chuckle and tickle his face again earning another groan. He opens his eyes and yawns. "Obviously you're feeling better?"

I nod with a grin. "In fact, I am. Thank you for the blanket by the way."

He turns onto his back and I prop myself up on his chest with my forearms. His stormy grey eyes watch me intently as he says, "You're welcome. Now… Tell me about what happened with Castor." I raise an eyebrow at him and begin to protest, but he shakes his head. "You promised…"

I groan and roll my eyes. "Fine! But I'm hungry so it's going to be the quick version." He nods with a smirk and I delve into my story. He lets me finish my story before he asks any questions and, when he does ask questions, it's a minimal amount.

After he's asked all his questions, we sit in silence. Not for long though, because after a few moments my stomach grumbles loudly. Landen laughs and we decide to go down to the kitchen. We leave my room and get into the Gryffindor common room only to find Monroe and her little follower, Ashlynn Silverton, sitting on one of the couches talking about James. They catch sight of Landen and me leaving and get up off the couch. Monroe stands in front of me and Ashlynn steps in front of Landen, looking him up and down hungrily. I can understand why she would look at him though. He is a tall six foot one with black hair that is messily strewn about from sleeping on it. His grey eyes are full of confidence and his lips are constantly set in a slight smile. His tan skin contrasts against the white t-shirt he is wearing and, with his arms crossed, his muscles are accentuated. He really is quite attractive, even after just rolling out of bed.

Landen smirks at Ashlynn. "Like what you see, do you?"

Ashlynn blushes then regains her composure. "No. Just trying to figure out why you would spend the night in THAT nasty slut's room."

Monroe laughs icily and glares at me. "That's exactly why, dear Ashlynn. It's because she's a nasty slut!"

I chuckle and shake my head. "Yea… I'M the slut. Oh by the way! How's Rylan?"

She narrows her eyes more and steps toward me with her fists clenched. "That was a mistake. How dare you bring that up!"

Landen laughs loudly. "A mistake! Which part? The cheating or the getting caught?"

"That's none of your business!" she says as she turns her icy glare to Landen.

I shake my head again and laugh. "The only mistake was that James actually took you back."

Her glare turns to a sneer as she turns back to me. "Oh dear sweet Ariana… You really aren't over James, are you? Is that why you're shagging this lovely boy?"

Landen flips her off which causes a laugh to erupt from my lips. "Yea… He's really 'lovely'..."

Landen laughs and grabs my arm. "Come on Ariana. As fun as this is, I'm starved." Monroe shoots me another glare and stomps away but Ashlynn stays put. She continues to stare at Landen as we walk away so he gives her a wink as we exit the common room. I can see the blush crawling up her face as the portrait swings shut.

As soon as the portrait shuts we burst into a fit of laughter. I push him playfully and say with a giggle. "Now you're never going to be able to get rid of her!"

He shrugs his shoulders with a grin. "Who can blame her? I'm a great catch!"

I roll my eyes. "Oh Merlin…"

He grabs my hand and pulls me down the corridor. "Seriously, I'm starved." As he pulls me along, we pass a corridor with a familiar silhouette in it. I tug Landen's hand and pull him to a stop. He turns with a pleading look on his face, silently begging me to just let him go to the kitchen and eat, but I look at him and gesture for him to be quiet. I silently pull him down the corridor behind me, hiding him in the shadows so that the figure doesn't see him. Once I feel like Landen is close enough to be able to hear what's going on without being seen, I push him into the shadow of a suit of armor and tell him to be quiet. He squeezes my hand and nods.

I take a deep breath and walk forward a few more feet. "What are you doing here, Castor?"

A low throaty chuckle comes from directly in front of me and he steps forward, exposing the face I remember from two years ago. His dark hair is greased back, his pig-like nose scrunched up and his thin lips pulled up into a sneer. He has his arms crossed tightly across his chest, his muscles strained against his shirt. "Well, well. If it isn't the filthy American…"

I scoff and shake my head. Just looking at him brings back all my feelings of hatred and loathing. "What is with your family and calling me 'American'? I have a name you know!"

His sneer turns into a look of disgust as he angrily says "Don't you DARE put that… that TRAITORin with my family! We are step brothers and you would do well to remember that."

"Oh I remember. He's a bloody BRILLIANT person AND wizard and YOU'LL do well to remember THAT." I realize that I have my finger in his face as I say this. I glare at him and drop my hand.

He smiles a cynical smile and steps forward. "Interesting… So how's Carter nowadays?"

I clench my fist and grit my teeth, realizing he's just looking for a reaction. "Still dead. Thanks for asking."

"Damn. You might want to tell that step brother of mine to watch out then. I have a feeling he might be joining your dead friends next…" He says with a smirk as he steps forward again. Now he is standing directly in front of me, making me very uncomfortable. Every alarm in my head is telling me to run but I refuse to back down. I just stand there, glaring at him. He bends down and inhales deeply. "Just as I remember…"

I grunt as push on him with as much force as I can muster, but he doesn't budge. He does, however, get angry with me and bring the back of his hand crashing into my face. The noise it makes reverberates throughout the corridor. "Don't you DARE touch me you filthy American!"

I kick him in the crotch and back away with a laugh. "Just like old times huh Perlorn? But I guess you DID say you wanted to pick up where we left off… Better watch what you wish for. PS: Don't you DARE threaten Landen EVER again you big loathsome oaf."

He growls and lunges at me. I barely miss his attack as I sprint away from him with a laugh and back toward Landen. Suddenly I'm being pulled into the shadows and behind a suit of armor. Then a hand covers my mouth and an arm wraps around my waist securely. "Nice insult…"

I smile and nod. Castor runs past us and stops at the end of the corridor. He looks left then looks right and lets out an anger filled roar. "I WILL FIND YOU, FILTH!"

He runs to the right and disappears from our view. Landen releases my mouth and waist with a laugh. "Do you just enjoy annoying people?"

I let out a giggle and nod. "I MAY find SOME joy in it…"

We walk out of the corridor and hear pounding footsteps coming toward us. We turn around and see Castor running toward us at full speed. Landen and I look at each other and break into a sprint. Castor's booming voice echoes throughout the corridor. "There's no use running! I'm going to break your little neck American!"

I grab Landen's hand and pull him to the left down a dark corridor. I had patrolled this corridor once before last year and I know that there is a small closet somewhere down here. I also know that it can fit two people because I caught two third years snogging in it after curfew. I see the door and grin as I speed up. I grab the handle and yank the door open. I shove Landen inside then follow behind him and swing the door shut.

I grab Landen's arm and let out a laugh as we hear Castor run by. He covers my mouth again with a sigh. He leans forward from the stack of chests that he's sitting on and whispers "I have a question for you."

"Mphm."

He chuckles quietly and keeps his hand over my mouth. "I'm going to assume that was permission to ask my question?" I nod my head and he sighs again. "Did you mean what you said back there?"

I pull his hand off my mouth and look at him. "What? That I think he's a big loathsome oaf?"

He stifles a laugh and shakes his head. "No, I already knew that. I meant, do you really think I'm a good person?"

I shake my head and a slightly sad expression crosses his face. "No. I think you're a brilliant person. And wizard! You'd have to be to put up with the likes of me!"

A small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth and then he grabs my face and mashes his lips to mine. It takes me a moment to realize what's happening but when I do I have tons of thoughts that run through my head. I think of James. I think about how I'm tired of waiting for James to remember me. I think about how selfish it is of me to be thinking about James right now when Landen is clearly kissing me. I think about how great Landen is and what a great friend he has been. I think about how guilty I had felt when I first realized that I fancy Landen. I think about how Landen is STILL kissing me… What is wrong with me? How long has it been? How long have we and been like this? Shit Ariana! Just kiss him already!

I sigh at my incessant thinking and wrap my arms around his neck, pressing my lips back against his feverishly. The kiss starts out slow, almost nervous but escalates into something more desperate. His hands travel to my waist, gripping it tightly and closing any lingering space we had between us.

I can faintly hear footsteps coming down the corridor, but I can't think about anything or focus on anything but this.

My lips move against his fervently, opening my mouth when he swept his tongue along my bottom lip. I move my hands to his head and tangle my fingers in his hair as I grip the back of his head, crushing his lips against mine. Landen breaks away, lightly tugging at my bottom lip as he does. He rests his forehead on mine and we sit there, staring at each other and breathing heavily. He plants another soft kiss on my lips and I smirk. "Took you long enough…"

Suddenly we are bathed in bright light as the door to the closet opens. We look over and see Freddie standing in front of us with a big grin on his face, a piece of parchment in one hand and his wand in the other. "Well what do we have here?" He points his wand at the parchment and says "Mischief managed..."

Alright, so I realize we haven't heard from James for a while. I think I'm going to give you his POV in the next chapter...

I told yall this chapter was going to be a bit more interesting! :) As always, I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts and opinions about this chapter!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far anf thank you to those who have added this story to their favorites! I appreciate yalls support!

-Tx