Chapter 8

Blaise watched the interaction between his Godfather and newfound sister, he didn't want to miss anything. When he and Draco had heard the shouts and loud voices coming from the common room, they had rushed out there without a second thought. What they saw then will forever be etched into his mind as one of the most memorable moments in his life.

There was a bright light surrounding a girl's frame as she writhed in pain on the floor. As the light started to fade away, so had the girl's pain. Once it had receded completely, the girl stilled completely and one of the many Gryffindors in the room ran over to her and helped her to get up. In front of them then had been the one person who was constantly on his mind, a girl who looked exactly how he had imagined his sister to look like. She was the splitting image of their mother with long dark hair that reached the waist, olive coloured skin, small button like nose and plumb lips. Everything was their mother, except for the eyes. The light blue eyes that held such depth you could drown in them. It was his eyes, his father's eyes.

The poor girl had been shaking so badly, overwhelmed by it all, and her eyes had been pleading with them to help her make sense of it all. Two seconds later he saw how the light went out of her eyes and he had just managed to get to her before she had hit the ground. He had been kneeling in front of her to try and calm her down while Draco ran off to grab their Godfather.

Severus had quickly gotten everything under control, but Blaise refused to leave his sister's side. It didn't feel right to leave her alone now when he just found her. She needed someone on her side in all of this and he was not about to let her down when he was finally able to do something.

Blaise knew he should leave and owl his parents to let them know what had occurred. He knew that they both must be waiting eagerly for some kind of news about their long-lost daughter, good or bad. Today had been a long time coming for their family, the Malfoys and their uncle. They had all awaited the day that the little girl would return home to them with bathed breath. But Aria had yet to breath since their uncle dropped the bomb and she held his hand in a vice grip and she gave no indication of letting go any time soon. She kept looking from him to his uncle and then back again. Her friends were of no help either, they seemed to be just as taken aback by it all as she was. They kept staring at her with their mouths wide open.

"May I suggest that we take this back to my office?"

Blaise quickly agreed with their uncle and with his help they managed to help Aria up from the sofa and out of the common room. Professor McGonagall and Draco trailed behind them, but when Aria's friends made a move to follow them Severus told them off and made them stay behind.

They reached the golden gargoyle that hid the entrance to the Headmaster's office. As he leads Aria up the winding the staircase he keeps up a silent conversation with Draco, trying to convey his thoughts without disturbing Aria as she thought everything over in her head. She hadn't spoken since they left the common room and it was first when they had all taken a seat inside the office that she finally opened her mouth.

"You mean to tell me that Blaise is my long-lost twin brother?" her attention was solely on their uncle, who sat behind the desk that had once been the desk of a tall, white bearded man with moon-shaped spectacles.

"That's right." the man behind the desk said softly. Blaise had never heard the snarky Potions professor be so patient and gentle with someone. If it had been him or Draco that asked such obvious questions, no matter their state of mind, they would have gotten a smack over the back of the head and berated for being so daft. But it seemed as if the Bat of the Dungeons had a weakness after all. His niece. "I know this has been quite a lot to take in, but I know some people who are dying to meet you."

Judging from his sister's expression, she knew exactly to whom Severus was referring. Her eyes grew wider and they expressed both excitement and fear.

"Are they here?" she asked, slightly panicked.

"No, not yet. But they are waiting to hear from us, they are really looking forward to seeing you."

"Okay." she spoke so softly they could hardly hear her after a few minutes of complete silence. It looked though as if she wanted to run away and hide.

"Very well!" Severus got up from his chair and within a second he had disappeared into thin air to go and get their parents.

No one spoke a word during the five minutes it took. Draco entertained himself by closely observing every single item around the room under the disapproving eye of Professor McGonagall. Aria, or Hermione or whatever they were supposed to call her, sat in her chair and bounced her leg up and down as she chewed nervously on her lip. It was quite amusing to watch really.

"What am I supposed to say?" his sister asked herself after a while, but everyone in the room heard it anyway because of the echoing silence.

"Oh trust me," Draco laughed and spoke up for the first time since it had all gone down. "When Aunt Bianca and my mother are in the room there is no need for worrying about to day, they talk plenty for everyone." the statement had Blaise laughing out loud. He agreed with everything Draco had just said, their mothers knew how to keep a conversation alive.

"Just don't let them hear you say that!" he laughed. "Or they will smack you upside the head."

Their recollection of their mothers' behaviour seemed to have intrigued his sister and worked as a wonderful distraction. Her leg stopped bouncing and she listened eagerly to everything they had to say. It seemed like she relaxed for the first time since the glamour charm dropped earlier.

Probably sooner than Aria would have liked, the fireplace roared to life and their dark-haired uncle came out of the hearth followed by two tall, dark figures that were his parents. The silence that once again fell over the room was deafening, even Draco took a step back from his discovery tour of the office to come and stand behind the girl who was the centre of everyone's attention to act as moral support. The girl in question sat completely still in her chair, wringing her hands together and refusing to look from her lap to meet anyone's inquiring gaze. That included their parents who were staring at her with wide eyes. Blaise really didn't want to be in his sister's shoes now, he wouldn't wish it on anyone.