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 15

Ari's POV

"ELI!" I hit him in the chest and let out a yell. "Dammit Eli! Answer me!" I can feel warm tears running down my face as I hit him in the chest again. "Dammit Eli…"

I hear Grandma Weasley pushing through the ring of on looking adults. "Move, move. Get out of my way." She gets next to me, looks Eli over then breathes out a sigh. "He's just been stupefied. Ariana, love, I'm going to need you to move."

I shake my head. "No. I want to help."

She looks behind me and sighs again. Someone lifts me off the ground and pulls me away from the scene. "C'mon. Let's go unpack."

"James, I don't exactly feel like unpacking…" I wipe my hand across my face and sigh shakily.

He smirks at me. "Good, because I don't have our bags."

"Wait, where is Bri?" I look around for her, straining against the arm that is tight around my waist.

He sighs as he leads me into the house. "Freddie is with her, she's fine."

I shake my head and stifle a sob. "Merlin, she's never going to forgive me for this…"

"Hey now…" He sits down on the couch and pulls down next to him. I curl my legs up, wrapping my arms around my legs. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and continues. "…You have to give Bri more credit than that. She may be upset, but she won't blame you for this."

I shake my head again. "You don't know that, Jamie…" I extend my legs across his lap and lean my head against his shoulder.

He rubs my shoulder and sighs. "No, I don't... But you really do need to give her more credit than that. Why are they here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, as I said before, Caledon knows where they live. I recommended that they all go live with their aunt, but Eli and Bri weren't having it. They insisted on coming with us and fighting alongside us and all that. I told them no at first, but they insisted. So now they're here…"

Suddenly the door bursts open and Grandma Weasley rushes through the door directing George and Teddy, who are carrying Eli's body, up the stairs. I watch them until their bodies finally disappear from my view. I let out a sigh. "I think I need some air…"

"I was just about to say the same thing. Let's go for a walk." He lifts my legs and gets up off the couch, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the couch. He places his hand on the small of my back as we walk into the kitchen and we find Lily, Al and Landen sitting at the table talking. Landen looks the same as before, cut up and bruised. Al has a cut on his arm and a small scratch on his cheek, but other than that he is unscathed. Lily is completely free of injuries, which makes me happy since she's only 8 and has no business being in this mess.

James clears his throat. "We are going to go for a walk. Would any of you like to come with us?"

Landen eyes James' arm behind me and frowns. "Um, no… I'll just stay here."

James shrugs his shoulders. "Alright, suit yourself. Al? Lily? How about you?"

Al shakes his head after shooting Landen a nervous glance and Lily follows suit. I'm a bit curious about the glances shot Landen's way, but I'm not really in the mood to talk to people so I make a mental note to ask about it later. James shrugs his shoulders again. "Okay… Well if mum or dad ask where we are, we're going out to the lake. Come get us if anything changes with Eli."

He leads me out of the kitchen, grabs our scarves, and leads me out the back door. We walk through the long grass in a direction opposite the house. I turn around and see Ron and Harry picking up the bodies of the Death Eaters. I turn back around and we continue to walk in silence. After a bit, we finally come upon the lake. The only reason I know it's the right place is because James gets a big grin on his face. I get a quick glimpse of my surroundings before James is running down the hill in front of us, dragging me by the hand behind him.

From what I saw, there was a single, rather large oak tree that has a weathered rope hanging from one of the branches and is surrounded by short grass. A few feet away from the tree is a placid lake that is lined by small pebbles and seems to go on for miles.

I stumble down the last part of the hill as we finally get to the bottom. Once we get to the edge of the lake, James bends down and picks up a flat rock. "Do you know how to skip rocks?"

I look at him with a slight smirk. "Do you?"

He chucks the rock in his hand at the water, sending it into the glassy water with a solid "plunk". He looks at me with a grimace. "I'm a bit rusty…"

I let out a laugh and shake my head. "Rusty? Really?"

He places a smooth, flat rock in my hand and motions toward the lake with a smirk. "If it's so easy then you do it!"

I look at the rock in my hand with a frown. "I lived in Colorado and New York… I have NO idea how to do this."

He laughs at me and sighs. "Okay, do what I do. First you want to grip the rock in between your index finger and your thumb, with the bottom of the rock resting against your middle finger. If you're confused as to which finger is your middle finger, it's the one you use to flip me off all the time."

I flip him off, which earns a laugh and a nod from him. "Yes, that one right there. Okay, now bring your arm back and… No, back like you're about to throw a disc, not a ball. That's better. Now bring your hand forward and release the rock while snapping your wrist."

I throw the rock exactly as he instructed but the rock doesn't skip. Instead it lands in the water with a "plunk" similar to James'. I watch the ripples travel outward, disrupting the peaceful surface of the water then look at James with a smirk. "You are a terrible teacher…"

He puts his hand on his chest and fakes offense. "That was rude!" He takes his scarf off and wraps it around a tree branch. He looks at me with a devious glint in his eye, then in a single motion he scoops me up over his shoulder and runs into the water muttering low profanities as the icy water soaks through his clothes. He lifts me off his shoulder and hurls me into the pristine water.

I flail my arms and legs around as my body sails through the air and a small squeal escapes my lips as my body falls into the freezing water. My body tenses up as the cold water surrounds my entire body. I flap my arms and kick my legs rapidly, trying to propel myself up out of the water. As soon as my head breaks the surface, I spit out the water in my mouth and yell "JAMES! YOU P-PRAT! THIS W-W-WATER IS FR-FREEZING!"

I splash my way back to the edge of the shallow part of the lake before a laughing James comes to help me. He extends his hand down to me to help me out of the water and says between laughs, "You look like a wet rat!"

"A w-wet r-rat huh?" I grab his hand and yank him into the freezing water.

He comes spluttering up out of the water with wide eyes. "H-Holy shit!"

I do the best I can to still my chattering teeth so I can smirk at him. "W-Who's the wet rat n-now J-Jamie?"

James and I swim over to the shallow part of the lake and clamber out of the water as fast as we can. He runs over to his scarf and waves his wand at it, turning it into a large blanket. He wraps it around himself and sits down as he smirks at me. "I w-was going to give t-this to you… Before y-you pulled me into the l-lake…"

I glare at him and flip him off. "I'm f-f-f-fine…."

He rolls his eyes and opens the blanket. "C-c-come on… G-get in here…"

I cross my arms and look out at the lake, but my resolve fades with the next bout of shivers that pass through my body. I glance over at James again and then sprint into the blanket. James lets out a chuckle and wraps the blanket around me. "You're lucky I'm n-nice…"

I look at him skeptically. "N-nice? Nice w-wouldn't have th-thrown me into the l-l-lake!"

"Nice w-wouldn't have c-called me a terrible teacher!"

I let out a laugh. "I n-never claimed t-to be nice…"

He chuckles and nods his head. "Y-you've got a point there. I'm a-actually just scared Eli w-would kill me if you g-got sick…"

I laugh again and smirk. "A-As you sh-should be!"

Just then, we hear from behind us "Well don't you two look cozy!"

We turn around and see Landen standing behind us glaring. I roll my eyes and say, "W-We asked if you w-wanted to c-come with us…"

He nods. "Mhm, right… Okay, well I came to tell you that Eli's up. But obviously you're a bit too preoccupied to care."

I grip James' shirt tightly and narrow my eyes slightly. "D-Don't be an a-ass, you self-rig-"

James cuts me off and nods to Landen. "Thank y-you for letting us know. We'll be back at the house o-once we've d-d-dried off."

Landen shoots one more glare at James then turns and walks away silently. I roll my eyes again and turn to James. "C-can we head back now?"

He nods with a smile and we get up. I pull the blanket off me and let one last large shiver convulse through my body before I straighten up. James and I start back up the hill again but get interrupted by a high pitched whimpering sound. I look at James curiously and then follow the noise with James close behind, his wand drawn just in case. We get closer to the noise and see a small, wet black puppy, lying on the ground shivering. I grab the blanket from James and kneel down. "Jamie, we have to bring him back with us."

He nods and kneels down next to me. "Okay."

I reach out toward the puppy with the blanket, causing it to cower away from me slightly. James croons soothing words at it, which seems to calm the puppy a bit. I wrap the blanket around the dog and pick it up. James and stand back up and continue back toward the house. As we walk, I rub the blanket quickly to try and warm the dog and stop its shivering.

We walk into the house and immediately find Lily. She sees the blanket in my hands and gives me a questioning look. That look changes into a grin, however, when the blanket lets out a small yip. Lily runs around the corner yelling "Dad! Al! We have a new family member!"

Harry and Al are briskly drug around the corner by Lily, who still has a large grin on her face. Ginny, Hermione and Ron follow them around the corner with puzzled looks on their faces. I set the puppy down and take the blanket off of it. Lily picks the puppy up and shows it to the adults and Al behind her. "See? Can we keep him?"

Harry takes the puppy from her and looks for identification of some kind. "It doesn't look like he belongs to anyone, so I don't see why we can't keep him."

Lily squeals and grabs the puppy again. "I think we should name him Toto!"

Al grimaces at her name choice. "I think we should name him Fluffy."

James shakes his head with a smirk. "I like the name Padfoot."

Everyone's heads whip toward James and Harry nods at James with a warm smile. "I think the name Padfoot is brilliant." Everyone but Lily nods their agreement.

Hermione looks at the puppy again and sighs. "Where did you find him? Why is he all wet?"

I shrug. "We were on our way back from the lake when we found him in the grass all wet. I don't know where he came from…"

Grandma Weasley comes down the stairs and gasps. "Why are you two all wet! You're going to get sick! Get upstairs and change this instant!" She pushes us up the stairs and into our rooms, but not before James can flash me a smirk.

I shut the door to my room and find my purple bag sitting on the bed. I dig through it and pull out some clothes. I quickly change into my dry outfit, savoring the new warmth, and pull my long hair up into a messy ponytail. I run out of my room and back downstairs. I find Grandma Weasley preparing some food in the kitchen, so I walk in and clear my throat. "So Eli's okay?"

She nods with a soft smile. "Yes, dear. You can go see him if you'd like."

I shake my head. "Not until Bri has seen him."

She nods again and goes back to preparing food. "She said she wouldn't see him without you. She is waiting by his door for you."

I turn around and run back up the stairs, only to turn back around and poke my head around the corner into the kitchen. "Thank you for taking care of him."

She nods at me with a smile, then waves me away. I grin at her then sprint up the stairs to the third floor. I run unto James along the way and pull him up the stairs with me. We get to the top of the stairs and see Brittney and Freddie are sitting outside one of the rooms talking. When I get closer, Brittney looks at me with a smirk. "Took you long enough you prat!" She then looks at Freddie and whispers, "Did I use it right?"

He nods with a grin. "You used it brilliantly."

I let out a sigh. "You're not mad at me?"

She giggles and nods. "For being absolutely late? Completely!"

I roll my eyes and shake my head. "You know how I am with time… But you're not mad at me about Eli?"

She shakes her head and chuckles. "Eli's an idiot. That's not your fault!"

James nudges me with his elbow and smirks at me. "I told you…"

I roll my eyes again and gesture towards the door. "Can we go in now, Bri?"

She gets up off the floor and opens the door. "After you dear sister!"

I nod my thanks and grin. "Thank you dear sister!"

We get into the room and Eli smirks at us. "Well if it isn't my favorite sister! And Bri too!"

Brittney rolls her eyes and sits on the end of his bed. "Obviously he's fine."

I grin at him and let out a laugh. "I'm glad you're alright."

He rubs his chest and winces. "Yea, I'm alright… Although I do have this terrible bruise on my chest… I wonder where I could have gotten that?"

I grimace at him and chuckle lightly. "Sorry… I thought you were dead! I think I deserve some leeway!"

He laughs and nods. "I guess… Hey, where's everybody else?"

Brittney grins and seizes the opportunity to insult Eli again. "We were the only ones who wanted to see you, and even then we had to be forced in here."

Eli groans. "You're a rotten sister, you know that?"

I laugh and shake my head. "She's not a terrible sister! She just lacks the ability to vocalize anything other than sarcasm! She really meant to say that she's glad you're alright and that she loves you."

Eli laughs loudly and makes a heart with his fingers to Brittney as she flips me off. "I wuv you too Bri."

She rolls her eyes and gets off the bed. "As fun as this is, I'm going to leave."

I remember the puppy and gasp. "Oh! Bri! I brought something back from the lake that I think you might enjoy."

She smirks at me. "You mean other than a funky smell?"

I roll my eyes and flip her off. "Get out of here you prat!"

She flips me off and walks out of the room. A few minutes later the door opens again and James pokes his head in. "Is it alright if I come in?"

Eli nods and waves him in. James comes in and takes a seat on the end of Eli's bed. "How are you feeling?"

Eli grimaces and glances at me. "Well, my chest hurts, but other than that I'm fine."

I roll my eyes at him and jump onto his bed, taking a seat on his chest. He winces away dramatically and groans loudly. "Ariana Elizabeth Brighton, get off my chest!"

I smirk at him and shake my head. "Elijah Ryan Franklyn, are you going to stop complaining about your chest?"

He nods vigorously as he pushes me off of him. James rolls his eyes at us and clears his throat. "Anyways! What exactly happened to you?"

Eli taps his chin and sighs. "Well, I was stupefied and Ariana punch-"

"ELI! What did we JUST agree on?"

He puts his hands up defensively and grins. "Sorry, sorry… Honestly, I'm not really sure what happened. I mean, I remember helping Al find your sister Lily then him sending me off to go help everyone else. I also remember helping Landen and his dad with a couple of Death Eater's and that's it."

Grandma Weasley pokes her head into the room and smiles. "Eli, I brought you some lunch. Are you hungry?"

I roll my eyes and smirk at him. "Is he awake?"

He flips me off and says, "Yes Mrs. Weasley."

She walks in and sets the food down onto the bed. He inhales deeply and grins. "It smells delicious, thank you."

She looks at me and James firmly. "Out so he can eat in peace."

Eli smirks at us. "Yea, out so I can eat in peace."

James and I roll our eyes and leave the room. Once we are out of the room, I look at James and sigh. "He's going to milk this for all it's worth…"

He lets out a laugh and nods. "That's alright, Grandma will too."

"It sounds like their perfect for each other!"

We laugh at the thought and join Freddie and Brittney in her room next to Eli's. As soon as we walk in Brittney asks, "So what is this Christmas party Al was talking about?"

I look at James and sigh. "You tell her about it… I'm going to go find Al and Landed and bring them up here."

He nods and launches into explaining the party as I walk out of the room. I take the stairs two at a time and get to the bottom floor quickly. I walk into the living room and find Harry and Ron talking on the couch while Lily sits on the floor and plays with the puppy. I try to sneak away but Harry catches sight of me. "Ariana, may we talk to you for a moment?"

I close my eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "Yes, of course." I turn around and walk to the couch. Ron gets up and exits the room, leaving a free space for me to sit. I take a seat and internally groan. I had been dreading this conversation since after the fight outside. "What would you like to talk about?"

He asks Lily to leave the room and then asks his questions. "What happened in America?"

"Um… I started a forest fire that destroyed loads of houses, made James, Freddie and I wanted criminals… Oh! And I found out that Caledon is controlling the President with the Imperius curse and he's not targeting who we think he's targeting… That's about it." I get up off the couch to leave but he holds up his hand to stop me. He stays quiet for a moment, probably trying to process what I just said.

He finally breaks the silence. "Why are you three wanted criminals?"

I sigh and get comfortable on the couch. "The police think I murdered my father. How daft is that? We ended up paying a visit to my old house and one of my neighbors recognized me. She called the police to report that she had found a missing person but, when I got in the police car, the officer started questioning me about the fire and my father's death. Then when I got out of the squad car, another cop came out and told me that I was under arrest for murdering my father. Plus, as I said before, I accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed loads of homes which counts as arson."

"Okay… And how do you know Caledon has the President under the Imperius curse?"

I tap my fingers on my knees as I tell him about the TV. "Well… Freddie, James, Eli, Brittney and I were watching TV when the President came on and began giving a speech, which is when I saw Caledon standing in the background. We paused the TV and Freddie noticed the President's eyes were all cloudy, which we later realized was because we is under the Imperius curse."

"Finally, how do you know that he's not targeting American muggles?"

I sigh once again and make a funny face as I try to figure out how to tell him about my dream. "Um… I had a dream about it. Well, sort of a dream. I mean, I was definitely asleep but when I blew up the TV in my dream I blew up the real TV. Plus I fell asleep in my bed but woke up in the living room. In my 'dream', Caledon told me that he wasn't targeting who we think he is and that we weren't going to be able to get anywhere near the President while he was under Caledon's control… So we left America and came here, which was obviously a good decision. Why where Death Eater's here attacking you lot?"

Harry shakes his head. "I'm honestly not sure… You kids showed up at the perfect time though. Who are Brittney and Eli?"

"Bri and Eli are my second family from America. I've known them since birth and I went to Salem with both of them. Eli is the prat upstairs and his sister, Bri, is the one who's attached to Freddie."

He nods his head and gets up off the couch. "You're free to go but, if you have any more 'dreams' like the one you had in America, let me know immediately."

I get up from the couch and nod. I walk into the kitchen and find Landen and Al talking at the table. "Hey you two, the rest of us are upstairs talking about the upcoming party if you want to join us."

Landen gives me an odd look and says, "Do you really think it's still going to happen with what just happened?"

Al nods with a smirk. "Of course! Grandma has never canceled a Christmas party and I don't think she plans on starting now." He gets up from the table and walks to the stairs. "You two coming or not?"

Landen gets up from the table and walks to the stairs, motioning for Al to lead the way. I quickly grab a bowl of fruit and rush back up the stairs to Brittney's room. As soon as I get in I hear Landen loudly yell, "THE PARTY'S TOMORROW?"

I chuckle as I take a seat on the bed next to Brittney and Freddie. "Yea, Lan. Tomorrow's Christmas Eve and the party is always on Christmas Eve."

James scoffs as he moves next to me and steals a strawberry from my bowl. "Please Ari… You act like you've been to every party. You've only been to one party you git."

I stick my tongue out at him and steal my strawberry back. "You're such a prat…"

Brittney sighs loudly and frowns. "I didn't bring anything to wear!"

"Don't worry about it Bri, I have something you can wear."

She grins at me then sighs dramatically again. "Now if only I had someone to ask me…"

Al laughs loudly and rolls his eyes. "I wonder who she could mean…"

James nudges me with a smirk. "She's the essence of subtle..."

Freddie blushes and opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he can say anything. "Bri! How dare you put James on the spot like that!"

James rolls his eyes and grins. "Yes of course. How could I be so stupid? Brittney, would you care to go to the Christmas party as my date?"

Freddie clears his throat and sighs. "Unless you'd like to go with me?"

Brittney grins widely and nods her head vigorously. "Well Freddie! You've completely taken me by surprise, but of course I'll go with you!" She looks at James and says, "Maybe next year Jamie."

James shrugs his shoulders and frowns dramatically. "I guess I can survive until then, but it might be hard."

Landen clears his throat loudly and faces Al. "Al, who are you going to the party with?"

Al shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't plan on coming home for the holiday so I'm not going with anyone."

I shake my head at him with a smirk. "Don't worry about it Al, I'm going solo this year too. I went with a date last year and it was awful. I only danced with him once and it was only for a moment."

Al and Freddie burst into laughter as James looks at me with his mouth agape. I place an apple chunk in his open mouth and look at Brittney and Landen to explain. "Jamie here was my date last year."

Brittney and Landen nod their understanding while James finishes the apple chunk in his mouth. "In my defense, I would have danced with her more if we hadn't decided to play strip poker with everyone else."

Brittney bursts into a fit of laughter this time. "Ari? YOU played poker? But you suck at poker!"

I flip her off with a grin while James, Freddie and Al begin laughing again. Landen gives me a confused look and I explain once again. "I was the first one in my knickers when we played… I'm dreadful at poker, as witnessed by everyone from that night."

We all spend the rest of the day in Brittney's room reminiscing about last year's party and talking about what we should do at this year's party.

So I decided to give yall a more cheerful chapter since the past couple have been kinda dramatic. Let me know what your thoughts about the chapter! :)

On a side note, I got the puppy idea from something I saw on pinterest. I saw it yesterday and thought it was adorable so I decided to add it to the story.

Thanks to everyone who added this story to their alerts, to everyone who took time out of their day to leave me a review, and to everyone else who supports this story. I absolutely love yall! :)

I will post chapter 16 as soon as I have it typed up.

Thanks yall! :)

-Tx

I will post the next chapter as soon as I get it typed up.