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 31

Ari's POV

"We'll think of something to do… I promise."

I nod skeptically as I walk James to the door. "Okay…"

He stops me when we get to the door and sighs with a frown. "Why won't you come to dinner?"

I shake my head. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm not hungry right now. Besides, if I do end up getting hungry, I'll just sneak down to the kitchen and get some."

"Alone?"

I let out a laugh as I push him out the door. "Yes alone! I'll be fine!"

He nods as he walks away, but turns back around and says while pointing a finger at me and smirking, "If you're not back in the dorm room by midnight, I'm coming to look for you."

I nod with a small smile. "Alright, fine. If you see Landen, can you tell him that I don't think I'm going to do the occlumency lesson tonight?"

He yells out a quick "okay" before taking off for the great hall, his shoes slapping against the stone floor as he runs down the corridor. I shut the door behind me and take a seat on the couch. I told James I wasn't hungry, but I really just want to think this through a bit more. I mean, James and I talked for hours and still couldn't come up with anything that would end this besides killing him.

(Break)

After spending at least two hours sitting on the couch, I get up and begin pacing around the room angrily. It's not that I don't want to kill him; it's just that he's still a living, breathing person. Not a good one, mind you, but still a living person! Suddenly I remember something that stops me in my tracks and raises a new question. "How did he… I need to talk to Bri!"

I hurriedly thank the room then laugh at myself for thanking the room as I run out into the corridor. I look at my watch and see that its ten minutes until midnight, which means that I'm out past curfew without my Head girl badge, so I slow myself down to a brisk walk and concentrate on getting back to Gryffindor tower without being caught. As I continue walking, someone steps out of one of the side corridors in front of me and crosses his arms. "What do you think you're doing over here?"

I narrow my eyes to try and recognize the figure's face, but the corridor isn't lit up enough for me to be able to clearly see it, so I roll my eyes and back away. "I guess I'll go back that way then…"

I run into a solid object that I'm sure isn't a wall and internally reprimand myself for getting caught in this sort of situation. The mass behind me chortles as he grabs my arms and forces me forward. "You won't be going this way either."

I shake my arms free from the grip of the person behind me and place my hands in my pocket before I turn down a corridor located directly between the two boys but, once again, I am forcefully stopped by running into another boy's chest. I can hear him chuckle as he violently grabs my shoulders and spins me around, walking us out to meet with the now three boys waiting for us. "Sorry Brighton, but you won't be going anywhere without talking to us first."

I try to shake my shoulders free from my captors grip, but that only entices him to tighten his already vice-like grip. I quit my struggling with a sigh then try to make out the boys faces again. "I find it a bit rude that you know who I am but I'm left in the dark about your identities…"

The first boy lets out an acidic laugh. "While your play on words was humorous, we're not here to exchange pleasantries. We've been waiting out here for a long time, Death Eater."

The second boy audibly grins while nodding his agreement. "We don't like to be kept waiting…"

I clench my fists in my pockets, which earns the attention of the third boy; the only boy who's chest I hadn't assaulted with my face. "What's that in your pocket? You don't think you're going to use your wand on us do you?"

I roll my eyes and roughly pull my hands out of my pockets, struggling against my captor's grip as I do, to reveal my empty hands. "I, unfortunately, forgot my wand back in my dorm so no I don't think I'm going to use my wand on you lot."

The guy holding me laughs, his grip tightening on my shoulders as he does. "What sort of Death Eater walks around without their wand, utterly defenseless?"

I smirk and shake my head at his misjudgment. "While I may not be a Death Eater, I'm not an idiot either. I said I was without my wand, not that I'm defenseless…"

The guy behind me laughs again. "I don't know… A wizard, good or bad, without their wand is pretty defenseless…"

You didn't live with my father…

I smirk again. "That's alright, I actually prefer that you underestimate me… Now, I doubt you waited for me just to talk about how defenseless a wandless wizard is… What do you want?"

The first guy lets out a disapproving huff as he takes a step forward and leans down so our faces are even. "It will do you well to remember that we have you trapped. Not the other way around… You might want to try a bit of humility in this situation, since we severely outnumber you, Death Eater. Now, normally I'm against hurting people, b-"

I roll my eyes and laugh sarcastically. "Why do I get the feeling that sentence is a complete lie?"

A growl escapes his lips as he leans forward more, our noses almost touching and his warm breath brushing against my face. "Don't test me, Death Eater… Your sarcasm isn't easing my friends here."

I roll my eyes again. "Yes because my whole purpose in life is to ease your friends… What the hell are you getting at? Is this charade supposed to frighten me or are is this amateur 'capture' actually going somewhere?"

I see his mouth contort into a sneer as he backs away. "For now, it's just a talk. But if you continue to test my patience, it will become so much more. I'm sure four men could overtake one little girl."

I scoff at him as I silently position my legs and feet for an attack. "How is it fair that you lot are 'men' but I'm a 'little girl'? Only little boys hide their faces in the darkness during a simple 'talk'. Anyways, if this is just a talk, why all the secrecy? Are you too scared to show your faces? Pfft, men; you're just a bunch of little immature boys who are in way over their heads."

I hear the first and second guys growl angrily but, before anyone can say or do anything, I stomp on the feet of the guy holding me captive then violently bring the back of my head crashing into his face when he releases my shoulders and bends down to tend to his injured feet.

As soon as my head hits his face I hear the sickening crunch of his nose breaking. He cries out in pain as he shoves me away from him and grasps his nose. I stumble forward into the clutches of the third guy and knee him in the crotch while also elbowing him in the head, not wanting to waste any time in getting away. That plan, however, is hindered by the fact that the third guy pushes me toward the first and second guys across from me. They both catch me by the wrists and each let out a menacing laugh. The first guy's grip is rather tight but the second guy's grip is loose, so I take advantage of the lack of tension by wrenching my arm free from the second guy's grip and kicking him in the stomach. He keels over, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath, so I seize the opportunity and bring my foot up and kick him square in the face, knocking him to the ground, before I turn around and land a punch on the first guy's cheek. He doesn't release his grip on my wrist, but instead, aggressively grabs my other wrist and violently pulls me closer to him so that our chests are flush. "That hurt…"

"Good, that was the goal." I try to wriggle my wrists free but to no avail; his fingers are wrapped tightly around my wrists, tight enough to leave bruises, which means there is no way of getting free now. I attempt to knee him but he anticipates the attack and spins me around, slamming my back into the stone wall viciously and knocking the wind from my lungs, as he stands on my feet to prevent me from kicking or kneeing again.

It takes me a moment to get my breath back, but when I do, the first thing I do is sneer at him and say, "Told you I wasn't defenseless… You might want to watch who you call 'little girl' next time…"

A snarl rips through the corridor as he forcefully slams me back into the wall again and pins my wrists to my chest with one hand while his other hand points his long wand in my face. He opens his mouth to mutter a spell, but before he can, his wand flies out of his hand and someone nails him directly in the side with a body locking spell. The person who shot the spell jogs over and helps me get out of the first guy's grasp. As soon as I'm free from the first guy's grasp and out of the way, the person turns around and lands a heavy right hook against his chin, mutters something to him, then turns back to me. "Are you alright?"

I roll my eyes and smirk as I gingerly rub my wrists. "Impeccable timing, Jamie, as always. What brings you to this part of the castle on this fine evening?"

"I told you I was going to come looking for you if you weren't back in the dorm by midnight… It's now 12:10 and… Bollocks I knew I should have stayed!" He places a hand on my back, but immediately retracts it when I wince away from it.

We hurriedly begin our trip back to the dorm, making sure to talk in hushed tones as we do. "Don't be ridiculous! If you had stayed with me you would have been caught up in that mess too."

He lets out a quiet chuckle as he glances over at me and smirks. "That's true… I wouldn't have been there to save you."

My mouth drops open in fake shock as I jokingly smack him in the arm. "Save me? I'll have you know I had him right where I wanted him!"

"And where was that, exactly?"

I smirk at him as we turn down another corridor. "If you must know, I was lulling him into a false sense of security before initiating my attack!"

He grabs both my arms just below my wrists and gently pushes me back against the wall then places his feet over mine. "Prove it."

I roll my eyes at him and tilt my head to the side. "Jamie, it's late and I'm tired. Besides, I don't want to hurt you… Can we just go back to the dorm please?"

He smirks at me before releasing my arms. "Which is code for, 'Thank you for saving me, Jamie…'" He steps off my feet and flashes me a smug grin before walking away.

I wait until his back is completely turned before I launch myself off the wall and onto his back, lightly wrapping my arms around his neck as if to choke him and locking my legs around his waist as to hinder him from squirming away then grin as I get next to his ear and say, "You were saying?"

He lets out a laugh as he continues walking. "So that was your plan? He didn't really look like he planned on letting you go…"

I chuckle lightly. "He may not have planned on it, but he would have done it. I am rather charming, you know."

"If by charming you mean sarcastic and a bit cynical, then yes, you practically ooze charm."

I roll my eyes at him and slightly tighten my grip around his neck as we walk into the Gryffindor common room. "Prat…"

I hop off his back once we've safely gotten into the Heads common room. Before we go our separate ways, I grab his arm and whisper, "Thanks for coming for me, Jamie."

He nods to me with a smile and whispers, "Always."

I give his arm a squeeze before tip toeing to my room. As soon as I get into my room, I throw myself onto my bed and make a mental note to talk to Brittney about my new question tomorrow before I close my eyes and fall asleep.

I wonder what Ariana remembered and how does it pertain to her dad? I guess you'll just have to wait and find out! :P

Thank you all for being so patient with my slow updates, I really appreciate it. I would love to hear yalls thoughts and opinions about this chapter! I really would! :)

I also want to thank everyone who left a review for the last chapter, everyone who added this story to their alerts, and everyone who has kept with this story despite the bad chapters and slow updates! Yall will never understand how much I appreciate youur support!

Thanks!

-Tx :)

P.S. I've started another FF that is along the lines of the hunger games so, for you hunger games fans, I would love if you would give it a read! It's titled "The Challenger's Circle" :) I'm still not too sure if I'm going to continue it, so any comments about it are appreciated and will definitely be taken into consideration. :) Thanks! -Tx