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 28

Ari's POV

The Hogwarts Express blows its horn, signaling that we have ten minutes until it pulls out of Kings Cross Station and takes us all back to Hogwarts. I take a deep breath and tightly clutch the purple beaded bag around my shoulder as I look at the train in front of me. Ginny gently places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. "Are you sure you want to ride the train back? You can always apparate back to school…"

I continue to stare at the train as I shake my head. "I'm going to have to face them sooner or later and, if it's all the same to you, I would rather just rip that bandage off now."

Harry places his hand on my other shoulder and sighs. "Alright, well we can have the boys form a sort of protective wall around you when you-"

I shake my head again, suppressing the anger that is bubbling up inside me. Why does everyone think I need protecting? I'm a seventeen year old girl, not an invalid… "I don't need protecting and I don't need to be sheltered. I'm going to walk through that train with my head up and deal with whatever those students can throw at me alone. I can handle this."

He gives my shoulder a firm squeeze as he lets out a sigh of defeat. "Alright… I DO want you all to stay together once you're on board though." He can see that I'm about to argue so he holds up his hand. "No arguments. Ariana, don't forget what I said about Andromeda. Owl me as soon as you figure out if your suspicions are correct or not, okay?"

I manage a nod before Ginny is hugging us all and telling us to write if we need anything at all. Harry pulls her back away from us before she can start crying, and waves to all of us. "Owl us if anything happens."

I nod again and look back at the train, taking another deep breath. Brittney comes up next to me and hooks her arm through mine while looking at the train. "You're not alone, you know."

I'm not in the mood to explain to her that in the end, I really will be alone. This fight with my dad has been years in the making and when it comes down to it; it's just going to be between him and me. I do appreciate the sentiment though, so I manage to breathe out a quick thanks before boarding the train.

At first, as we walk through the train, things are fine, although I expect that's because people weren't quite aware who was walking through the train. As we get further back, however, the murmurs and stares begin. The only reason I know they are staring is because, although I keep my gaze ahead of me the entire time, people are beginning to pop their heads out of the compartments they are sitting in, craning their necks to get a good look at what was coming down the train. I try to keep my composure as we pass by the students who are ogling at us. Al drops off after a bit to sit with the blonde Ravenclaw, who is now his girlfriend, and Lorcan and Lysander. After that, Eli breaks off because he sees Spencer sitting in a compartment with Alec and he wants to talk to her. And by talk, I mean flirt.

After a few more steps, I hear Roxanne say, "I didn't sign up for this…" before taking a seat in a compartment with her friends.

I turn around and look at Landen, who looks unbelievably conflicted. I internally roll my eyes as I gesture after Roxanne. "Go follow her."

He nods his thanks and runs after her and joining her in the compartment she entered. I look away from the compartment he just entered and turn my gaze to the front of the train. Everything is at a standstill up there and there are heads sticking out of every compartment, all looking in our direction. The silence and stillness is finally broken when a third year Hufflepuff clears her throat and asks, "Is it true that you're a Death Eater?"

Suddenly the train erupts into questions and exclamations, some of which include: "Are you all Death Eaters?" and "What do you have against muggles?" and "Please don't hurt our families!"

I even got asked what it took to join by a few sketchy students. None of those questions bothered me, I was even able to ignore some of the more obnoxious exclamations and questions. What shook me most was when I saw Rodney, the third year Gryffindor who got in a fight with a Slytherine last year because the Slytherine insulted his muggle mom. The moment I made eye contact with him, and saw the look of betrayal on his face, I reel around and walk away, looking for the first available empty corridor. When I can't find one, James and Freddie take it upon themselves to kick a couple of first years out of one.

Once the first years have run out, fear etched on their faces, they turn and gesture for me and Brittney to get in. We all take a seat just as the train is pulling out of the station.

After sitting in tense silence for a few moments, Freddie clears his throat and smirks. "Well that wasn't so bad…"

I roll my eyes with a laugh. "Oh yea… The students at Hogwarts think that we, as a group, are a bunch of Death Eaters who are bent on getting rid of American muggles, and are completely afraid of us. You're right, things couldn't have gone more smooth…"

James lets out a laugh and nods his agreement. "What was with those questions? Some of them were completely absurd!"

Brittney is the only one who isn't laughing at the situation. In fact, she is looking at us as if we're mental. "Am I the only one who realizes that things are going to be really hard once you get back to school? They all think terrible things about you and you three are in here laughing about it?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Let them think what they want. We all know the truth, and that's all that matters."

She shakes her head defiantly at me as she waves her wand at the door, silently muttering "Muffliato." She looks at me and crosses her arms. "I know that's not what you think. I saw the way you looked at that little boy, Ari. He rocked you a bit, which means you obviously care what people think."

I narrow my eyes at her as the door to the compartment opens up and Eli walks in. "Whoa! Why is it so tense in here?"

I ignore him and continue to glare at Brittney. "Sod off, Bri. Did the look on his face upset me a bit? Yes. But I don't give two shits what anyone here thinks because they have no idea what's going on or the severity of the situation. So if I want to laugh at what's happening, and try to find humor in the fact that basically everyone in the school thinks I'm a terrible person, then I should be able to do that without getting in trouble!"

She stands up and points a finger at me. "You can't involve me in this situation and then bitch at me for trying to be rational about the situation!"

"Fuck you, mate! I didn't ask for you to come along! In fact, I wanted you and Eli safe at Aunt Laura's but you insisted on coming along! So don't bitch at me when I decide I want to laugh at any of this and don't get upset when I refuse to let that asshole I call a father ruin my time at Hogwarts!"

She scoffs angrily and she clenches her fists. "Fuck me? Fuck you! You shouldn't be worrying about having a good time at school right now! You're so damn irresponsible! I was always the responsible one though, wasn't I? Always getting us out of trouble and such. Well I can't get you out of this one, Ari!"

I get up off the seat and throw my hands up angrily. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS! I didn't ask to be responsible for any of this so I should be able to deal with it as I please!"

Brittney continues to glare at me for a moment then storms out of the compartment with an angry grunt. I stand still with my fists clenched and wait until I can't see her anymore before I stomp out of the compartment as well, turning the opposite way from Brittney, toward the back of the train.

James' POV

"Well that was sufficiently awkward…" I continue to stare at the door to the compartment and feel thoroughly confused.

Freddie nods his agreement. "I'm still not really sure what just happened…"

Eli shakes his head as he closes the compartment door and takes a seat. "They used to do this a lot… Mostly because Bri is a know-it-all jerk who thinks she is Ari's mother, and Ari is an irresponsible child who likes to act on a whim without thinking about the consequences for her actions. That combination tends to lead to a bit of personality clashing… I'm amazed they went this long without arguing too much. The last time they fought like this it was because they were both dating the same guy at Salem…"

Freddie raises his eyebrows. "What? What happened with that?"

"Well the guy has a bit of a permanent limp, but that was because of an unfortunate 'accident'. Those two just yelled at each other about it."

I look at Eli then look back at the door. "Shouldn't someone go get them? I mean, they were pretty upset and now they're wandering around a train full of students who think they are Death Eaters…"

He shrugs his shoulders. "Nah. They are going to need some time to cool off. They'll find each other and talk when they are ready."

I shake my head as I think about the things Brittney said. "Those things Bri was saying were completely off too… Ever since Ari found out about this she's been preparing herself for this. She's had to deal with a lot since she moved her two years ago…"

Eli looks at me with a smirk. "Although I'm sure you're right, you are a bit biased…"

Freddie shakes his head also. "No, it's true. She's lost both of her parents, although it sounds like the loss of her dad wasn't much to mourn over, then she lost four of her best friends, one of which tried to give her to Brighton in order to have him bring her dead boyfriend and Ariana's best friend back to life. She had to grow up really fast, you know."

Eli shakes his head and looks at us solemnly. "No, I didn't know… Why didn't she tell us about that?"

Freddie shrugs as he readjusts on his seat. "Maybe she didn't want to talk about it. I may have only known Ariana for a few years, but even I know she's not big on people feeling sympathetic toward her."

Eli laughs energetically. "Yea, you're probably right… I mean, I once made the mistake of telling her I felt sorry for her, to which she politely responded with 'Shove it up your ass.'"

We all clutch our sides as we roll around on our seats, laughter filling the compartment as the train flies down the tracks.

Ari's POV

As I stomp away from the corridor, each step earning a harder huff, I think about what Brittney had said. I mean, yes, she had saved my tail more times than not, but that was a long time ago! I've come a long way since then! What gives her the right to yell at me about this? I guess maybe I could have reacted differently…

I take a deep breath and turn around to go find Brittney and apologize for my outburst. It only takes me a moment to find her, because she is sitting in the middle of the hall with her arms and legs crossed tightly, her back turned to me, so that she is facing the front of the train.

I walk over and take a seat in front of her so that I'm facing her. "Bri, I'm sorry…"

She glares at me for a moment then her shoulders slump and she breathes out a sigh. "Me too…"

We give each other a tight hug and stand up. "Let's go back to the compartment. We still have some things to talk about…"

"Such as?"

I look around before I respond. "Occlumency lessons and Andromeda…"

Things were pretty intense between Bri and Ari, werent they? Good thing they patched things up fairly quickly, huh?

Occlumency lessons and Andromeda, huh? Are you finally going to find out what Ariana thinks Andromeda is doing at Hogwarts?

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