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 11

Ari's POV

I walk into a chamber with lit torches hanging on the walls. In the center of the chamber, in the center of the warm light of the torches, is a tall, black, iron cage.

I walk toward the cage and pull on the door. It opens with ease and I step into the cage, pulling the door shut behind me. I sit on the ground and wait. I'm not sure what I'm waiting for, but I wait.

After sitting and waiting for a bit they begin to come, one by one. First it's my mother, she takes her place in front of me as he death is reenacted. It seems to be on an endless loop as she dies over and over again. Then comes my father. He takes his place next to my mother and dies too, his death repeating over and over. Then comes Carter, then Astoria, then Rachelle, and finally Bella. They all take their place in a circle around me and repeatedly die.

The door to the cage swings open, revealing an escape from the torture, but I'm so consumed with anguish that I stay where I'm seated.

Then, in one loud explosion, everyone dies at once. Their bodies go flying in all directions, slamming into walls with loud "THUD"'s.

I fling the blankets off of me and jump up, brandishing my wand as I do. I look around my room frantically and remember where I am. I take a staggered deep breath and glance at my watch. 7:47 am…

I hear another loud explosion overhead and duck down, covering my head with my arms. I slowly raise back up and sneak out of my room. I grab a big blanket off the couch and go out onto the balcony, taking a seat on one of the fluffy chairs sitting out. I wrap myself in the blanket and lean back against the chair, closing my eyes and letting the cool, crisp winter air chill my face.

Why had I stayed in the cage? The door was open, yet I stayed… Why? It was as if I had chosen to stay there and watch them die, which is pretty twisted. I grunt and cover my face with my hands. "What the hell?"

"I don't know… WHAT the hell?"

I whip my head around with a gasp. "Merlin, James! You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing up?"

He shrugs and sits in the chair next to me. "Sorry, I couldn't sleep."

I nod and look out at the town. A firework shoots off into the sky, exploding into a bright, sparkling, flurry of purple. I follow the fireworks path and see a house with lights flashing and hear faint music thumping. Another firework shots off and I wave my wand, muting it before it explodes. I do this a few more times before James breaks the silence. "Ari, I'm really sorry for how I've treated you these past few months…"

I nod my forgiveness as I tinker with my charm bracelet. I haven't messed with it in a while, and I realized I only do it when I'm nervous about something. James notices me playing with my bracelet and frowns. "What are you thinking about?"

I stare at the flashing house and sigh. "Landen, actually."

James grimaces. "Why?"

"Because he's stuck at Hogwarts with Andromeda…"

"So? So is Al. Why aren't you worrying about him?" He still has a frown on his face as he readjusts in his chair.

I roll my eyes and scoff. "Yes, he is. But I'm not worried about Al because Landen will make sure to look out for him. I'm worried about the fact that Landen is in that school with her now, when just last year he was undercover in their group. It's pretty probable that Andromeda will single him out and make his life hell…"

I can see James loosen up a bit, but before he can say anything the balcony door opens and Eli steps out onto the patio. "What are you two doing out here?"

James and I say at the time "Couldn't sleep." I look at him with a smirk while his eyes widen.

Eli laughs at us and shakes his head. He walks over and plops down on my lap, causing a huff of air to escape my lips. I push on his back and grunt as I try to get him off of me. "Get your fat ass off me!"

He grins and lens back, crushing me into the chair. "I just wanted to let you know that mom just left to go pick up Brittney. They should be back in about an hour."

I push my head out from behind him and smile. "I want to surprise her. Have mum send you a text when they are close so that I can hide."

"Okay sounds like a plan."

I widen my smile into a grin and look at James. "I can't wait for you and Freddie to meet her. She's bloody brilliant! Not like this git here."

Eli smirks and squeezes me cheeks "Aw! My wittle sister is so sweet!" He gets up off my lap and sticks his tongue out at me then says "You might want to go get ready, you don't have very long." With that, he walks back inside and shuts the door behind him.

James gives me an odd look. "Now I know where you get your maturity from…"

I fake a laugh and flip him off. He shakes his head and chuckles. "I thought you said you didn't have any siblings though?"

I shake my head. "I don't. Not any blood siblings anyways. Eli is more like an adopted brother. Kind of like Al!"

He nods his head thoughtfully. "Do you have any other 'adopted' siblings?"

"We should go get ready. Eli is right, we don't have much time." I smirk at his disappointed expression as I get up from my chair.

He grabs my arm before I can go inside and asks "Why didn't you come live here after your father's death?"

I shrug my shoulders, pulling my arm free from his grip. "I thought it was obvious. To protect them."

He throws his arms into the air and groans. "Why is everything you do to protect someone?"

"Because we protect the ones we love, James." I pull open the door and walk inside, leaving James outside in the winter air. I get into my room and dig through my bag for some fresh clothes. I grab my new clothes and quickly make my way into my bathroom to take a shower, admiring the large tiled bathroom as I walk in.

After my shower, I rapidly get dressed and braid my hair. I look at my watch and groan. I still have thirty minutes until Brittany gets back. I haven't been this excited to see anyone since last year when Bella was coming back from her family's funeral. I furrow my brow and sigh. If Caledon is upset with American muggles, why had he been killing families in England?

I walk over to Freddie's room and open the door, revealing a shirtless Freddie. "Fred I have a question for you."

"What the bloody hell Ariana? Ever hear of knocking?" He quickly pulls his shirt over his head to cover himself.

I smirk and shake my head. "Freddie, we were on the same quidditch team. I've seen you without a shirt loads of times. Will you help me now or are you going to continue to blush like a little girl?"

He throws a pillow at me and laughs. "You're such a prat! What do you want?"

"I was just wondering if you had any ideas as to why Caledon has been killing families in England if he's holding a grudge against American muggles?"

He shrugs. "He thrives on power and fear. Maybe by killing those families was his way of getting people to know his name. Maybe it was his way of trying to put fear into their hearts, although that failed miserably. All he did was anger them. Or maybe... It wasn't ever him doing the killing, was it? It was always his stupid followers. Maybe he doesn't have as much control over them as he thinks… Now do you mind? I need to finish changing and, although you have seen me without a shirt before, you haven't seen me without pants and I would like to keep it that way."

I roll my eyes and leave his room, but not before flipping him off with a smirk. I head out to the kitchen and grab some frozen waffles from the freezer. I put four wheat waffles in the toaster and, while they are toasting, I grab a container of peanut butter from the pantry. Once they pop I pull them out and spread some peanut butter on them, silently thinking to myself how nice it is to be back in America.

Eli walks out of his room with a grin. "I smell waffle nutters!" He sees my plate of peanut butter covered waffles, or waffle nutters, and grabs one with a smirk.

I roll my eyes and laugh. "You're lucky one of those was already for you!" I walk back to Freddie's room and knock. "Do you have your pants on yet?"

He opens the door and glares at me playfully. "Yes."

"Good. I brought you a waffle nutter."

He raises an eyebrow at me and smirks a little. "Excuse me?"

I stuff the waffle in his mouth and walk to James' room. I walk into his room and find him brushing his hair, to no avail. It continues to stick up in all directions, out of control. I smirk and stuff a waffle into his mouth as he opens it to say something to me. "Enjoy your waffle nutter!"

I run out of his room before he can protest or say anything. That's right! I'm going to force my American foods on you two!

I look at my watch again and smile. Five minutes left!

I rapidly eat my waffle nutter and put my plate in the sink. Suddenly the lock on the door begins to twist and Eli looks at me with wide eyes. "Shit! They're home early! Go hide!" he whispers as he pushes me out of the kitchen. I run into Brittney's room and hide in her dark closet, quietly praying that she decides to unpack first thing. I tap my foot and nervously play with my charm bracelet as I watch the closet door intently.

I can hear Brittney yelling something at Eli and then hear her bedroom door slam shut as she grunts. "Why is he such an asshole?"

I suppress a laugh, wondering what Eli could have possibly done to anger her. Suddenly her closet door swings open, letting blinding light come flooding in through the open doors. Brittney is looking down at some shirts she has in her hands, picking fluff off the shirt on top. I take a deep breath and say "Hey Bri…"

She throws the shirts at me, surprise and fear etched on her face, and exclaims "Oh shit! What the hell?" She has her wand pointed at me and her other hand is placed over her chest. Her eyes are opened wide with shock and her mouth is agape.

I shake the shirts off and step out of the closet with a laugh. She still looks the exact same as she did when I left two years ago. Her dark brown bushy hair is pulled back into a ponytail, a few curly tendrils falling loose against her face, and her glasses resting on top of her head. The dark freckles she has across her nose and prominent cheekbones contrast against her pallid skin and her icy blue eyes are still bright as ever, contrasting against her dark hair.

I wave my hand and say again "Hey Bri…"

She lowers her wand and narrows her eyes at me. "What the fuhhh… Ariana? Holy shit!" She rushes forward and wraps her arms around me. "Where the hell have you been? I thought you were-"

I shake my head and laugh again. "If you say dead I'm going to go mental."

She releases me from her hug and frowns as she punches me in the arm. "Why the hell didn't you write me?"

"To answer your first question, I was in England. I went and lived with some people there after my father was killed. To answer your second question, I didn't write you because I wasn't allowed to. We were staying in a secret location and writing you would have given our position away. And speaking of living with some people, I have some people I want you to meet…" I grab her arm and pull her out of her room before she can protest.

We walk to the room where Freddie has been staying and I knock on the door lightly. The door opens and reveals Freddie. Past him is James sitting on his bed. Freddie smirks and says "Oh so now you knock?"

"I hope you're decent because I have someone for you to meet and we're coming in." I push the door open and pull Brittney through the door. I point to James. "This is James. He's the person whose family I've been living with for the past two and a half years."

Brittney shakes his hand politely then looks at Freddie with a slight grin. I smirk at her and gesture to Freddie. "This prat here is Fred Weasley. He is, unfortunately, bloody brilliant and one of my best mates."

Brittney shakes his hand and says "Pleasure to meet you Fred Weasley."

Freddie winks at her, causing Brittney to blush, and says "Call me Freddie, love."

James looks at me with fake hurt. "Wait, you don't think I'm brilliant?"

Before I can answer, Eli walks in and grins at Brittney. "Well Bri? Still think I'm an asshole?"

Brittney flips him off and grabs my arm, pulling me out of Freddie's room behind her. "So Ariana, it seems we have lots of catching up to do… How about we go get some sushi and talk?"

I grin at her as I remember our favorite sushi place. "Sushi Shushi is still open? Absolutely! Can we bring the guys though? I want to immerse them in everything American."

She nods vigorously with a smirk. "Totally! But you do realize sushi isn't American, right?"

"Shut it and go tell the guys we're leaving."

Brittney rolls her eyes with a laugh and walks back to Freddie's room with a sheepish grin.

Okay yall! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions about it! :)

I will upload the next chapter once I have it typed up, which should be between today and Monday.

I also want to say thanks to everyone who added this story to your alerts and to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it! Yalls reviews encourage me to write more and update faster! :)

Thank you!

-Tx