Chapter 40

Ari's POV

I glare at Alec with my arms crossed tersely. "Why'd you do it?"

Alec flashes a small, amused smile at me and shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

I clench my fists together tightly and shout, "DON'T PLAY STUPID! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! WHY'D YOU JOIN THEM?"

He holds up his hands in defense, the amused smile still on his face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Clearly somebody needs more sleep…"

I narrow my eyes at him again and say through gritted teeth, "I'm not joking around, Darkbloom… Why. Did. You. Join. Them?"

His smile drops and his shoulders sag, his brows furrowing together in frustration, as he tucks his hands in his pockets and answers. "Ari, this feud between you and your father is going to come down to a fight and it's time to pick a side… And based on what I've seen, your father's side is the winning side. I'm just making sure that I'll make it through this war, which I never asked to be a part of, alive and in one piece… I can't always be a nice guy, Ari! I have to look out for myself too!"

I stare at Alec through wide eyes, my mouth slightly agape in shock and my head slowly shaking side to side as what he's said sinks in. After standing in stunned silence for a few minutes, Alec clears his throat in discomfort, breaking me from my stupor. "You… You joined them to save your own bloody skin? You would choose to look out for yourself rather than spare the lives of thousands of muggles?"

Alec shakes his head, grunting in frustration. "I won't be taking any of those muggles lives though!"

I scoff loudly, shaking my head at him. "Clearly you're as dense as everyone believes… Of course you're going to have to kill those muggles! What do you think my father is recruiting for in the first place?! He's creating an army! Which means you're just as involved in this impending war as I am!"

I push past him and open the door to the room, stopping when he yells, "What makes you any different from your father?! You're both so eager for a fight that you're willing to put innocent lives on the line! From what I can see, I simply picked the more absolute choice!"

I turn to face him and say, "The difference between my father and me is that, for him, all lives are expendable and easily replaced. For me, every life is precious. You picked the wrong side, Darkbloom…"

He raises a questioning eyebrow at me and asks, "Why do you say that, Brighton?"

"Because I refuse to lose this war." With that I exit the room, shutting the door behind me, and almost run into James and Freddie.

They both jump back in surprise, guilt written on both their faces. I stifle a startled scream that threatens to come out of me before asking, "What the hell are you two doing?"

Freddie shrugs, his surprise and guilt turned to humor as he smirks at me. "We just wanted to know what you two were talking about…"

Before I can answer him, the door to the room opens and Alec angrily says, "Be warned, Brighton, I will not hesitate to kill you…"

I turn back to him and smirk, taking in the angered look on his face. "The feeling is mutual, Darkbloom."

I turn back around to face James and Freddie as Alec angrily marches past us. "Does that answer your question?"

Freddie glances as Alec's retreating figure and sighs. "So he's really joined them?"

I nod, a disgusted look on my face. "He wanted to be on the 'winning' side… He thinks we're going to lose when we end up having to deal with my father!"

James looks at me warily, as if trying to figure out how to approach a delicate subject. "Well, the prophecy did say only two of us are going to get out of there alive…"

I look at Freddie, who is glaring daggers at James, and try to ignore the nagging fear that is coming to the forefront of my mind while changing the subject. "So what are we planning on doing today, Freddie?"

He responds with a large grin. "We should take our American friends out for a-"

A sudden commotion in the Great Hall cuts off the rest of Freddie's suggestion. The three of us share an almost excited glace before rushing into the Great Hall to see what's going on. Once inside the expansive hall, I grab the boys shoulders in glee at the scene unfolding in front of us.

There, standing in the middle of the Great Hall, in all her glory, is McGonagall. She has a student guarded behind her, who seems to be nursing a wounded cheek, as she towers over Andromeda, who simply glares as McGonagall loudly chastises her. "How DARE you hit a student! When is that ever acceptable?!"

Andromeda looks unfazed, almost bored, as she responds. " 'e waz spreading lies about-"

McGonagall shakes her head, the bun atop her head moving as she does. "That is not an acceptable reason to hit a student! Pack your office up and leave my school at once!"

Andromeda smirks at McGonagall and says, "Your zkool?"

"Yes! MY school! Now, get out of my school this instant!"

Andromeda looks up to the replacement Headmaster Seamus Finnegan, who looks rather displeased with this situation and leaves only after he subtly nods to her. As she proudly marches out of the Great Hall, you can hear the murmurs of both confusion and excitement pas from student to student until the noise fills the room.

The moment the door shuts behind Andromeda, the Great Hall erupts into a fit of cheers so loud it's almost deafening. McGonagall holds one of her hands up while she uses the other to point her wand at her throat before her voice echoes throughout the room. "STUDENTS! I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING AWAY SO LONG, HOWEVER, I AM BACK AS ACTING HEADMASTER AGAIN AND I WILL BE MAKING A GREAT DEAL OF CHANGES AROUND THIS PLACE VERY SOON." With that, McGonagall removes the wand from her throat and turns to the student that she was earlier protecting and begins talking to him.

I watch Seamus shake his head at McGonagall disapprovingly before getting up from the Professor's table and exiting the room. I make a mental note to figure out what that was about when I get the chance, then grab the arm of both Freddie and James and drag them over to McGonagall, grinning as we approach her. "Welcome back, Headmaster. How's RC?"

She nods to us with a small smile while still tending to Andromeda's assault victim. "Good to be back. RC is good, he's getting back into the swing of things and helping Mister Potter track down your father. Would you three mind bringing Rodney here to the Hospital Wing? I have a few things I need to sort out as soon as possible."

I look down at Rodney and grin, recognizing him immediately. "Rodney, why does always seem to be you on the receiving end of someone's abuse?"

He shrugs his shoulders and flashes a small smile at me. "I guess I'm just lucky…"

I let out a laugh as Freddie, James and I guide Rodney out into the corridor. Once we're all outside, I quietly ask, "Why did she hit you, Rodney?"

Rodney looks over at me warily while responding. "Is it true you three stopped Zabini from hurting that Hufflepuff girl, Emiliana Brown?"

I nod slowly, wondering where he is going with this. My question, however, is answered when he continues. "Why? Why did you help her?"

I shrug my shoulders casually. "Because she needed help."

Freddie smirks as he chimes in. "Yeah, mate. We're not the cold, heartless, killers everyone believes we are!"

Rodney shakes his head absentmindedly. "No, I guess you're not…"

I wait in anticipatory silence for Rodney to answer my first question but, when I realize that's not going to happen, I lead the rest of the walk in silence. We're almost to the Hospital Wing when Rodney speaks again. "She tried to recruit me, you know…"

My head immediately snaps to the side and I stare at him through wide eyes. "What?! What did you say?!"

He smirks at me as he responds, his tone suggesting that the answer to my question is obvious. "Well I said no, of course! But I also told her that I was going to tell someone what she was doing, so she hit me… I'm lucky Headmaster McGonagall came in when she did or I'm sure I would have been hurt a lot worse…"

I pat him on the shoulder as we come to the doors of the Hospital Wing. "Well Rodney, I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks." He nods once before walking into the Hospital Wing.

Once he's gone, I turn to James and say, "Go find Al. We have a lot to fill him in on…"

James nods then jogs away. I then look to Freddie and sigh. "Let's go find McGonagall. She'll want to hear about Andromeda's recruitment attempts."

Freddie nods his understanding then gestures for me to lead the way. I walk ahead with a grin, glad that things are starting to get better. Andromeda is gone, McGonagall is back, I haven't heard from or seen my dad in a while and-

"Ariana…"

I stop abruptly and turn to look at Freddie with a questioning look on my face. "Did you just-"

He places a finger against his lips and motions for me to follow him, so I comply, allowing him to lead us to a small door. He presses his ear against the door and gestures for me to do the same and, once again, I comply. The moment my ear is flush against the door I hear:

"…You get caught. You knew I needed more and you've failed me yet again…"

"I'm zorry my Lord! Please! I can do better! I 'ave at least fifteen students recruited so far! Zey can continue to recruit in my absence!"

"That is your only saving grace… I-"

Suddenly my body is violently slammed against the wall next to the door and an all too familiar voice sounds next to me. "What do we have here, Castor? Looks like the golden girl is eavesdropping again!"

Castor laughs cynically. "And, Arowena, she brought a friend! What shall we do with the friend?"

I grunt angrily as I struggle against Arowena's grasp and manage to say into the stone of the wall, "Leave him alone!"

Arowena pushes against me aggressively, shoving me into the stone wall harder, her hot breath blowing against my ear as she manically cackles and says, "Or what? You haven't got what it takes to beat me! You couldn't do it when I killed your little friend, and you can't do it now…"

I struggle against her grip again, an angry scream leaving my mouth in the process. Not a moment after I scream, the door Freddie and I had been listening through opens, revealing a very angry looking Andromeda and a smug looking Seamus Finnegan, who speaks first. "Well what do we have here?"

Arowena pulls my hands behind my back before yanking me off the wall and thrusting me toward Seamus. "Castor and I caught this one and her friend over there eavesdropping on your conversation with Clarimonde, my Lord. Shall we dispose of them?"

Seamus shakes his head and chuckles lightly. "No need, my children. You two have done wonderfully. Now go continue to recruit for me while I talk to my daughter. It's been quite a while, hasn't it, Ariana?"

I grasp Freddie's arm tightly as I clench my teeth and say to Seamus, "You really are fond of that Polyjuice Potion, aren't you? Where is the real Professor Finnegan?"

I feel like a lot happened in this chapter, but it's all pertinant to the story! I promise!

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts about the chapter and the story! Oh, and I'm pretty sure I know how I want this story to end, but I have another ending that I kind of want to do... So I need your advice! Should I only post one ending or should I post one and then post the alternate ending? It's up to yall, but I really do need your help because if I can't figure it out it's going to take me forever to finish this story...

Thanks for everything, yall! :)

-Tx