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 26

Ari's POV

The following three days had passed fairly slowly, what with my time only being occupied by occlumency lessons with Draco and talking to the others about what we might expect to go back to once we get back to Hogwarts.

After I had told Harry that I had a hunch as to what Andromeda was doing at Hogwarts, and explained my hunch to him, he told me to keep an eye on her and owl to him if I was correct since he can't do anything unless he has more than a hunch to work with.

My occlumency lessons have been dreary and tiring. I'm not getting any better at them and I can tell that Draco is beginning to get frustrated with that. It's not that I'm not trying; it's just that my emotions, mainly anger, tend to get the best of me once the memories hit. Draco has given me the day off so that he can, as he said, regroup. He going to try and find new ways to teach me. The only problem with that is, today is December 31st, which means that I get on the Hogwarts Express to go back to Hogwarts in two days, along with the rest of the group. That's not very much time to learn and master occlumency…

Freddie, Roxanne, Angelina and George have been staying here for the past two days. Grandma Weasley is staying at George's house and Grandma Weasley kicked them out so she could work on a surprise for them; for all of us really. We have no idea when they, or any of us, will be allowed to see that house again. Since they are all here, we've all been assigned roommates; although we haven't actually been following them. We've been sleeping in the same room, changing rooms every night, while Angelina and George have been staying in James' room.

Now Eli, James, Brittney, Al, Freddie and I are all sitting around on the ground in Al's room talking about quidditch. Lately it seems as though all of our conversations have been about my dad and his plans, Andromeda or my occlumency lessons so to talk about something so normal is a nice change of pace. It almost feels like things are normal again…

"So does Ari actually play, or is she like the mascot or something?"

I reach over and punch Eli in the arm while the others roll with laughter. Al sits up and wipes a tear from under his eye and chuckles as he looks at James and Freddie and says, "Could you imagine? She would be at the bottom of the pitch, dodging falling bludgers, and dancing around in a lion costume!"

James and Freddie lean against each other as they begin laughing even harder while Eli and Al high five each other. I grab a pillow off Al's bed and smack them in the faces with it then flip them all off with a huff. "I would be the best damn mascot ever, you tossers!"

Eli stifles his laughter as he shakes his head, a grin spread across his face. "Oh calm down you dummy. We're just having some fun!"

Brittney grabs the pillow from me and throws at him, nailing him directly in the face, then I lunge across from me and tackle him to the ground, taking a seat on his chest once I've pinned him. He flings the pillow off his face and grunts. "Ariana, you're crushing my lungs!"

I look down at him and sneer. "Oh calm down you dummy. I'm just having a bit of fun!"

Eli mouths something to the boys across from us and, before I can turn around and see what he mouthed, I am tackled off of him and leveled by Al, James and Freddie, who all high five each other with a laugh.

I grab my shoulder and groan in pain. "Ow ow ow! Merlin, that hurts!"

They all sit up off me, concern etched on their faces. "What's wrong?"

I look over at Brittney with a smirk then take advantage of their concern, shoving them back as I jump up off the ground with a grin. "Suckers!"

I wrench the bedroom door open and burst into the hallway, sprinting down the stairs into the living room, and running directly into Landen, who was walking out of the living room, knocking him to the ground. I help him up just in time for us to be knocked to the ground again by four laughing guys and Brittney, who was trying to stop them.

Landen angrily fights his way out from the bottom of the pile, grunting as he pulls himself free. "What the hell, Ariana?"

I suppress my laughter and struggle to get my head out so I can look up at him. "Oh come off it, Lan. We're only having a bit of fun! What's with the hostility?"

He clenches his jaw and fists then apparates away with a POP! Everyone sits up and looks at the spot he just apparated from. Brittney throws her hands up and groans. "This is the third time in the past three days he's done that! Where the hell does he even go?"

James furrows his brow. "Why is he so damn moody? Is he on the rag or something?"

Brittney and I both aggressively smack him on the arm then I look at them with a sigh. "He would probably want to go somewhere that he can be alone…"

Then I remember: "I meant empty as in my parents are never home, you twat! Any time that I'm here, I'm here by myself…"

I roll my eyes and let out a laugh. He would go home to be alone… Idiot. "I think I might know where he is… Any one of you want to go with me to find him?"

Eli grins at me. "I'll go with you Ari."

We both stand up and lock arms. The next thing I know, we are standing in the front room of Landen's manor. One poor house elf was walking through the room as we apparated in and was so startled by our appearance that she dropped the tray of empty plates she was carrying. She lets out a small cry at the mess she made and scrambles to clean it up, whimpering as she does. Eli and I crouch down and help her with it the best we can, since we are responsible for the mess in the first place. She looks up at us once the mess is clean and says in a squeaky voice, "Thank you for your help, Miss Ariana Brighton."

Eli pretends to be hurt as he places a hand on his chest and drops his mouth open. "Hey now! I helped too!"

I backhand him in the stomach and look at the house elf. She is small, with large ears similar to those of bats, that hook over at the tops, large blue owl-like eyes, a long pointy nose and thin lips pursed tightly as if expecting me to yell at her, which leads me to assume that Landen is in fact here and has been the other times. She comes up to about my waist and she is wearing a dingy "dress" that look more like a dirty pillowcase than an actual outfit. "How do you know me? I don't think I've met you before…"

She relaxes a bit, sighing softly, before answering me. "Azuri is very sorry. Master Landen has told Azuri all about you."

I smirk at her. "Hopefully not all about me… Is he here now?"

She nods, the tray in her hands shaking a bit at the rapidity of her movement. "Master Landen is up in his room. Would you like for Azuri to let Master know you are here?"

I shake my head with a smile. "Thank you Azuri, but that won't be necessary… Do you know why he is so upset?"

She shakes her head firmly. "It's not Azuri's place to share the details of Master's life."

I shoot a glare at Eli when he sighs angrily then turn back to Azuri. "Well thank you for your help. Can you tell me which room is Landen's?"

She nods. "He is in the first room on the first floor. Azuri will show you the way."

She leads us up the staircase to a big wooden door. Azuri dips her head to us and walks away, still carrying the tray of plates. As soon as she is back down the stairs I open the door and Eli bursts in. He waves his wand at Landen and disarms him, all with a grin. Landen glares at Eli then turns his glare to both of us. "What the hell was that for? What do you want?"

Eli smirk at him as he twirls his wand and stows it away in his pocket. "Well we can't let you run away again, now can we? And-"

I hold my hand up in front of Eli's face and take a step forward. "AND we want to know what the hell is going on with you." Landen looks over at Eli and narrows his eyes so I turn to Eli and gesture for him to leave. "Why don't you go to the kitchen and get something to eat. But if I find out that you were annoying Azuri, and I will ask, then I will bring you out to a random forest, take your wand and leave you stranded there."

Eli flashes me a toothy grin before he says he's just going to go back to Grimmauld place. He apparates away as I cross the large room and take a seat on Landen's bed. "What is going on with you lately?"

He crosses his arms and sits on his bed, still glaring at me. "It's none of your business."

"Excuse me? It's none of my business? You've been a complete wanker to everyone in the house, including me, and it's none of my business?" I glare at him and cross my arms as well.

"I'm not telling you."

I clench my fists and keep my arms crossed. "And why not?"

He shakes his head firmly. "Because you're going to laugh at me."

I roll my eyes with a head shake and a scoff. "Landen, you sodding idiot! A few weeks ago, you were willing to tell me anything, including the time when you laughed so hard during your second year that you peed your pants during class and had to run out of the room to change your clothes. Did I laugh then? NO! And Merlin knows I had every right to! So why the hell would I laugh now? What has possibly changed between then and now?"

He uncrosses his arms and covers his face with his hands as he falls backward, laying out on his large bed. "It's Roxie…"

I erupt into a fit of laughter, which earns a glare from Landen. I regain control of myself with a few deep breaths and straighten up. "Okay… Sorry… Just a bit funny that with everything else going on, you are upset about a girl… What's wrong with Roxie?"

He shakes his head, his hands still covering his face, and grunts. "Nothing! Nothing is wrong with her!"

I shake my head, completely confused, and suppress the urge to punch the answer out of him. "I don't see how that could lead to a three day long bad attitude…"

He sighs and drops his hands from his face. "The problem isn't that there is something wrong with Roxie. The problem is that there is something wrong with me…"

I grunt angrily and throw my hands up. "Would you just tell me what's wrong with you already?"

"Two days ago, I tried to tell her I fancy her and she ended up telling me that she fancies Eli!" He groans loudly and brings his hands back up to cover his face. "What's wrong with me?"

I lie down on my stomach next to him, propping myself up with my elbows, and pull his hands off of his face then nudge him with my shoulder. "Landen Anthony Raghnall, nothing is wrong with you, alright? I mean, there are tons of things wrong with you, but not when it comes to girls."

He smirks at me. "Yeah? You really think so?"

I nod with a grin. "Yeah, I really think so. She'll come around, I'm sure of it. Although, if you continue to stomp around the house and throw a fit, she's probably going to be too scared of you to come around…"

He lets out a sigh as he looks at me and grimaces. "You're probably right…"

I smirk at him as I roll onto my back and stare at his ceiling. "Of course I'm right! I'm always right! Now can we go back to Grimmauld Place? Please?"

"You really can't stand being away from James for a moment longer?" I can hear the humor in his voice so I know he's joking, but I can't stop the eye roll and explanation that immediately follow.

"Look, James and I are just friends. Yeah, I kissed him a few days ago, but we are just friends…"

He smirks at me, clearly suppressing the urge to laugh. "You kissed him?"

I reach over and punch him in the arm as I roll my eyes and scoff. "Oh sod off! Nothing has happened since then! We are just friends."

"Do you love him?"

I'm a bit taken aback by his question, so it takes me a bit to stammer through my answer. "I, uh… um… Yeah, I do. But I can't afford to. With everything that's expected to happen, and the fact that one of us could still die, I can't afford to. So, as I said before, we are just friends."

Landen shrugs his shoulder and says in a definite tone, "It sounds as though you two will never be just friends…"

I groan as I crawl off his bed. "That's what I'm afraid of…"

He looks at his alarm clock and sighs. "We should really head back now. Ginny will probably be serving dinner soon."

I let out a laugh and help him off the bed. "She would go completely bonkers if we missed dinner… But hey, before we go back, I just want to say that next time something is bothering you, rather than throw a fit, just come talk to me. Please, for everyone's sake… I'm here for you, mate."

He nods then grabs my arm, rolling his eyes when I give him a questioning look. "Well Eli took my wand back to the house with him!"

"So your return is in my control? You're lucky you haven't angered me too much today…" I wrench my arm free from Landen's grip then walk over and open the door, stick my head out and yell, "Bye Azuri! It was lovely meeting you!" I walk back in and hold out me arm. "You really should be nicer to her…"

Landen smirks at me as he reaches for my arm. "She's just an elf."

I shake my head firmly and drop my arm before he can grab it. "No, she's not. She has a heart, and a brain. She breathes and thinks and feels. You'll do well to treat her nicely. Now…" I raise my arm back up, signaling the end of the conversation. "…Let's go."

He rolls his eyes as he grabs my arm. In an instant, we are back in the living room of Grimmauld Place. Landen releases my arm and I cup my hands around my mouth. "Helloooo… Anyone home?"

Ginny comes in with a smile on her face. "I was just about to send the boys to look for you two. We're going… out for dinner. Landen, go get some new clothes from James and Ariana, go change into something a bit nicer."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "How nice?"

"Your sixteenth birthday nice. Oh! And I told Bri she could borrow one of your dresses. Is that alright?"

I nod as I walk up the stairs. "Absolutely. I'll be down in about fifteen minutes." I run to catch up to Landen, grabbing his shoulder just before he knocks on James' door.

"What Ari?"

I pull him down so that he is crouching down and our faces our even. I look around then quietly say, "We are not to repeat what we talked about in your room, okay? I don't need James knowing what I said."

He smirks at me as he removes his shoulder from my grip and opens the door to James' room. "I don't think it's much of a secret that you love James, but my lips are sealed."

I nod my thanks then turn and run up to my room, flinging open my closet door and tearing through it to look for a dress to wear. After pulling everything out of my closet and not finding anything I want to wear, I resort to making an outfit from other dresses. I grab one of my long red dresses and use Cass's wand to cut and sew it into a high-low skirt that has its shortest part rest right above my knees and the longest part barely dragging along the ground behind me, then pull a black sleeveless blouse with white pearl buttons out of the clothes pile on my bed. I put on the blouse and pull on my skirt, tucking the shirt into the skirt and then I grab some black heels. I then use the wand to cut my returned-to-blonde, low back length hair up to just below my shoulders then, after cleaning up the hair I cut off, I curl my hair. I clip my bangs back with a red clip and quickly do my make-up. I double check myself in the mirror then laugh at myself for the excessive effort I've put into this outfit before I take off down the stairs.

When Ginny sees me, she nods with a grin. "That will be perfect. Are you ready to go?"

I look around for the others then turn back to Ginny with a raised eyebrow. "What about everyone else?"

She waves me over with a grin. "They've all left already. You are the only one left."

I point back to the stairs. "But… What about Landen?"

This time she laughs while waving me over again. "He left with James and Harry a few moments ago. As I said before, you're the only one left."

I nod as I quickly walk over to her and grab her outstretched arm. As soon as I come in contact with her arm, we are whisked away to a large, wooden cottage with bright white lights strung around the expanse of it. I glance over at Ginny, a smile threatening to spread across my face. "Another party? Really?"

She shrugs her shoulders as we walk toward the house. "It makes mum happy, so we all just go along with it. Besides, who doesn't love a party?"

"Where are we?"

She grabs the door handle and grins at me. "Welcome to Georgie's place…"

She opens the door, revealing a living room full of Potters, Weasleys, Raghnalls, Franklyns and other assortments of people who are all mingling rather loudly. Ginny walks in ahead of me and yells, "Happy New Year's Eve everyone!" She walks over to Harry, who is talking to Grandma Weasley, and gives him a kiss before turning to talk to her mother.

As I look out at the unfamiliar room full of people, I feel a certain sense of discomfort and vulnerability; as if I'm brand new and once again don't know anyone. As if on cue, Freddie and Brittney, James, Eli and Spencer, Landen, Roxanne, and Al walk toward the front door, each carrying a glass of butterbeer. I take a relaxing breath, bursting with joy at the familiar faces, and wave to them. As they walk closer, I can see Eli pointing at me and laughing. "What are you laughing at, Franklyn?"

He grins at me but doesn't say anything, so Al explains Eli's laughter. "Eli just finds it funny that you manage to change your hair for every party."

I roll my eyes at Eli and turn away from him to face Freddie, James and Al. "So why didn't we go to this party last year?"

Freddie shrugs his shoulders as he looks around the inside of his house. "Because this is the first year Grandma has set it up. Apparently, that's why she banned us all from the house; she was planning and organizing all of this. Do you lot know who you're going to be kissing at midnight?"

I look at him skeptically. "I didn't realize that was done here too…"

He shakes his head and looks at Brittney. "It's not, but Eli was telling us about it and I think it might have to be a tradition we start…" He wraps his arms around Brittney and pulls her in close, nuzzling his face in her neck, which earns a laugh from her and a scowl from Eli.

Eli's expression changes from a scowl to a grin as he looks over at Spencer and wiggles his eyebrows. "Whatta ya say, gorgeous? You wanna be my New Year's kiss?"

She holds her hand up while smirking. "We'll see how the night goes…"

Landen wrings his hands together and clears his throat nervously as he turns and looks at Roxanne. "Roxie, will you be my New Year's kiss?"

Roxanne looks over at Eli and frowns. "I don't know…"

I can see that Landen is sinking, so I decide to intervene. "Oh come on, Roxie. He's a really good kisser, I promise… Plus, everyone else is pairing up…"

I glance over at Landen and see him silently mouth "Thank you" as Roxanne sighs her agreement.

Freddie unburies his face from the crook of Brittney's neck so that he can look at Al, James and me with a grin. "That just leaves you three…"

Before anyone can say anything else we hear, "I'll take James…"

As soon as I hear her voice, I cringe instinctively. "Who invited the ruddy likes of you?"

You lovely readers have been so patient with me so I decided to show you my appreciation by giving you a nice semilong chapter. :)

As always, I would love to know what you all thought about the chapter! I would also like to thank those who left a review, those who added this story to their alerts, and those who have stuck with this story from the beginning and continue to read it. You all have no idea how much I appreciate you! :)

Thanks!

-Tx :)