Ariadne did not sleep at all that night, too lost in her revelations about her father. She did not realize how long had passed until the sun began to peek through her curtains and shine onto her swollen eyes. It was then that Dobby popped into her room in preparation to wake her up. Rather than alerting Dobby to the fact that she was already awake, Ariadne turned to her side in order to allow herself a final few moments of wallowing.
"It is time for Miss to wake!" Dobby exclaimed happily. "Today is Hogwarts day, Miss!"
Ariadne sat up and met Dobby with the widest grin she possibly could, though she could tell that it did not her eyes.
"Thank you, Dobby. I'm very excited." Ariadne wasn't lying, but she was not excited as she perhaps might have been if she had not just been informed that her father was a notorious mass murderer.
"Good, Miss! Dobby is excited too. But Miss," Dobby's voice became very hushed. "Make sure you get to the platform very early." Dobby became excited once more. "Always good to be early, Miss!"
Ariadne laughed. "Er, thanks Dobby. It is always good to be early. I'll try my best, but its more up to the Malfoys than anything else!"
"Yes, of course, Miss! Dobby did not mean to speak against his Masters. Oh, Dobby is a bad–"
"No!" Ariadne grabbed Dobby by the shoulders before he could begin whatever punishment she was confident he had planned. "The advice was very lovely, Dobby. Thank you. You know, I'll miss you when I go to Hogwarts."
"Miss will miss Dobby? Dobby will miss Miss!" Dobby lowered his voice and leaned in close to Ariadne, who was still sitting on her bed. "Should Miss ever need Dobby, she need only call."
And at that, Ariadne pulled Dobby in for a hug, during which he began to cry. Ariadne buried her head into Dobby's shoulder, allowing her own tears to silently dampen Dobby's cloth shirt.
Lucius, Narcissa, Draco and Ariadne arrived at King's Cross at 10 AM, one hour before the train was set to leave the station. Upon arriving at the Apparition point, Ariadne removed herself from Narcissa's arm and watched Draco with mild interest.
"I wanted breakfast! The train doesn't leave for another hour, you know." Draco whined. Ariadne thought for a moment that he might stamp his foot like she had seen children do in films. Just when she thought he might, Lucius' voice cut in.
"Do not complain, Draco." Mr. Malfoy set his cane on the ground, and Draco's mouth closed almost immediately.
"Oh, darling," Narcissa soothed. "I know you're hungry love, but you've had toast and you can eat on the train. Ariadne was right when she suggested we arrive early. It is her first time, after all. Remember last year? You hardly knew what to expect."
"That's not true," Draco mumbled. Still, his glare had lessened considerably.
"I am sorry, Draco! I've just heard so many things about King's Cross and Hogwarts and starting school and I just wanted to begin as soon as I could. I'm sure you knew loads going into it, but I am quite nervous. I thought coming early might be best."
Draco uncrossed his arms and looked over at Ariadne. "Well, I wasn't nervous at all. But it's fine, I'll just eat on the train. I wanted to catch up with my friends early anyways."
Outwardly, Ariadne shot Draco a grateful smile, while she grinned to herself on the inside. As Lucius marched Draco towards the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, Ariadne caught Narcissa looking at her with interest. As their eyes met, Narcissa schooled her expression to her usual haughty nonchalance and grabbed Ariadne's arm, ushering her towards Draco and Lucius.
"You'll just go straight through, see," Narcissa explained, pointing towards her son and husband who were each disappearing through the solid barrier of Platform 9 ¾. "I'll be right behind you."
Despite Narcissa's comforting words, Ariadne remained reluctant to run headfirst into a brick wall. Only after Athena, caged atop Ariadne's trunk, hooted in affirmation did she muster up the courage. She bolted, disappearing through the wall as if it were never really there.
On the other side of the platform, Ariadne marveled at the bustle of the wizarding world around her. Like at Diagon Alley, she was ecstatic to see children her own age, children who could do magic, ready to enter into the same journey as her at Hogwarts. Briefly, she imagined her parents running through the barrier year after year and wondered if they felt the same exhilaration that she did. She allowed the image to slip away, determined to allow today to be as happy as it could be.
Following closely behind, Narcissa firmly grabbed Ariadne by the shoulder, halting her as she walked towards Draco and Lucius.
"Be careful this year, Ariadne. Try not to worry about your sorting, though it really would be safer for you to be in Slytherin. Stay close to Draco this year. He can take care of you if you need it. And…" Narcissa hesitated. "Don't worry about your father. He was better than people want to believe."
Well, Ariadne didn't know what to make of that. She could guess Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's stance on the war, but Narcissa's hesitation made her pause. Better? Better as in served Lord Voldemort wholeheartedly, better? She opened her mouth to ask for clarification, but Narcissa was already pushing her along.
As she reached Lucius and Draco, Mr. Malfoy was just finishing off his goodbye to Draco.
"Don't forget to write. And do stay out of trouble, Draco."
"Yes, Father." Draco nodded dutifully. As he did, Narcissa grabbed him and pulled him into a large hug.
"My darling boy," she began, tears filling her eyes. Ariadne turned away to allow them a moment, but as such found herself standing awkwardly at Mr. Malfoy's side. He turned to speak to her to break the silence.
"I expect you to stay out of trouble as well, Ariadne."
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy." Ariadne responded, doubting too much trouble would find her. He looked away. As Draco wrenched out of his mother's arms, he grabbed Ariadne's and led her onto the train. She waved goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy (really the latter).
"Leave your bags. It'll be taken care of."
Ariadne looked around. "Other students are putting their bags on themselves."
Draco laughed. "Other students aren't me," he said smugly.
Ariadne hesitated before nodding, leaving her trunk on the ground. She grabbed Athena's cage to take with her, just to be certain. Draco grabbed her arm and lead her into an already full compartment. Ariadne recognized the people that she had met the day prior at Diagon Alley, plus two new faces.
"Ariadne, you know those lot," Draco said, nodding his pointy chin towards Daphne, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle. "The other two are Nott and Bulstrode." Draco now pointed to a quite nice-looking blonde boy and a rather large girl.
"Theodore, actually. Theodore Nott." Nott said, smirking at Ariadne. She nodded politely back, though his grin was somewhat off-putting. "Well, Draco? Who have you brought along with you today? Are you going to make a proper introduction?"
"This is my cousin Ariadne, Nott, so sod off. Speaking of– Crabbe. Goyle. My and Ariadne's bags are outside. Put them away?"
The two hulking figures of Crabbe and Goyle nodded once before exiting the compartment. Daphne laughed watching them, before turning smiling eyes on Nott.
"Don't be weird, Nott. She's only a firstie." Daphne's smile remained light, but her eyes had turned warning.
Nott scoffed. "I was only being polite."
Draco glared at him, eyes softening when they turned to Ariadne. "Well," he began. "I'd invite you to sit with us but the compartment's full, and we can't really be seen sitting with a first year anyhow. Daphne, where's your sister?"
"She's in the apartment across the way. You should join her Ariadne, she'd love that. Tori was terribly nervous about coming to Hogwarts." Daphne smiled encouragingly at Ariadne.
"I will, Daphne, thank you. It was lovely to see you all." Ariadne turned to leave, but first gave Draco a grateful hug, wrapping her arms briefly around his neck. She appreciated what she recognized to be his attempts to take her under his wing. As she quickly pulled away, she noticed his usually pale face flushed pink.
"Bye everyone!" And with that, she took the couple steps to the next compartment, knocking on the door before opening it. Inside sat Astoria, small hands drumming against her knees while her long blonde waves shielded her downward gaze.
"'Lo, Astoria! Mind if I join you?" Ariadne greeted, feeling somewhat anxious herself. It really had been quite a while since she had a friend outside of Draco. Astoria looked up, pale green eyes shining.
"Ariadne! Yes, please! I'm so glad you're here. Last night I had a terrible dream that I sat alone on the train and I was afraid it might be prophetic! Daphne told me I was being silly and that I'd make friends easily 'cos she did, but Daphne was really raised for that kind of thing. I'm the youngest, you know, so I didn– oh no, I'm rambling, aren't I?"
Ariadne laughed politely. "You are, but I do the same. I used to, at least. The Malfoys are working on beating it out of me– not literally!" Ariadne caught Astoria's look of shock and caught herself, laughing once more.
Astoria joined in, tension leaving her small shoulders as she eased into Ariadne's company. "Call me Tori! All my friends – well Daphne– do. Do you go by anything else?"
"No, just Ariadne." She hesitated before replying, briefly remembering Mr. Malfoy's warning to her that first day at the station. "I just prefer it that way."
Ariadne wasn't lying either. Not totally. She did prefer Ariadne, in a way. More than she missed being called Aria, she missed being Aria. And in this world, this strange world that should have been known to her but wasn't, she had not felt like Aria enough to allow someone to call her that. Not even with the Malfoys who, despite taking her in, did not feel enough like home to receive that side of her (the side that they had banished).
"I don't blame you!" Astoria chirped happily, green eyes shining. "It's a lovely name. I always wanted a constellation name, but– well, Blacks only. Not that I could exactly name myself, could I? Astoria is horribly Greengrass but you know how those families are. Had to be done"
Despite nodding along, Ariadne didn't know how those families were. Mr. Malfoy had told her that Ariadne was a good pureblood name, and it was a Black one according to Astoria. Draco always said her last name with the sort of esteem to which he held his own, so it must mean something in the wizarding world. Her father, then, was a pureblood. Did that mean that she was one? She resolved to ask Draco and tried to tune back into Astoria's chatter with an uneasy smile.
Just as Astoria launched into a tale about tripping over her robes while dress shopping with Daphne, the trolley door launched open forcefully. A small redheaded girl stood in the doorway with an amused grin.
"Can I sit with you lot? My brother Percy's up front with the Prefects, not that I'd sit with him anyway. Fred and George kicked me out of their compartment to talk about girls with Lee. And I can't find Ron anywhere."
"Bloody hell, how many brothers do you have?" Astoria clapped a hand over her mouth, as if shocked at her own daring.
Ariadne giggled and clapped out an exaggerated applause. She reveled in both Ginny's energy and the boldness that she had brought out in Astoria. This is what it felt like, she remembered, to have good friends. "There you go! Bloody well done." She winked at Ginny. "I'm Ariadne, by the way."
"Ha!" Ginny laughed sharply. She took a seat to Ariadne's left. "Those are just the ones at school. I've got six bloody brothers. Bill's a cursebreaker and Charlie works with dragons in Romania. Then there's Percy, he's a prefect and he'll never let you forget it. Fred and George are twins, pranksters the two of them. And Ron's a second year. All Gryffindors, so I expect I'll end up the same, but who knows. What about you two?"
Noticing Astoria's hesitant expression, Ariadne spoke first. "I expect I'll be in Slytherin, but I'm really not sure. Ravenclaw might be nice – it was my mum's house, I think. Does where your family went influence your sorting? My, er, dad was in Gryffindor."
"Not sure, really. Loads of times kids end up in the same house as their parents, but there are also loads of exceptions."
At that, Astoria chimed in. "My whole family's been in Slytherin, as far back as the tree goes. I'm Astoria Greengrass. So I think I'll end up there, I hope." She paused. "Bu– but I've always thought I might fit in well in Ravenclaw."
"See," Ginny added. "Anything can happen! I'm hoping for Gryffindor, but it might be good to get away from my brothers. You should've seen them this morning when I forgot my diary. Only Harry was nice."
"Harry Potter?" Ariadne asked. "Do you know him?"
"Oh!" Astoria said brightly. "You're Ginny Weasley! Daphne told me about Harry and your brother Ron."
Ariadne thought the name sounded familiar but couldn't quite place how.
Ginny's expression turned dreamy. "Yes, he's Ron's best mate. I've fancied him since forever– my favorite story growing up was Harry Potter and the Nibbling Niffler! But whenever he's around I just–" Ginny ended with a sigh.
"I know what you mean," Ariadne said. She'd had a quite a strong crush herself, on a muggle boy from her primary school named Justin who had helped her up when she'd fallen once. He'd been a year older, though, and had moved away before she did. Across from her, Astoria nodded knowingly.
"Speaking of, Ariadne." Astoria began hesitantly, before a moon-eyed look crossed her face. "What's it like living with Draco Malfoy?"
"You live with the Malfoys?" Ginny nearly shrieked. Ariadne, who had been laughing at Astoria's question, nodded her head slowly.
"My mother passed last year and Mrs. Malfoy is my father's closest living relative. I think– it's not been explained to me all that well."
Ginny eyes widened a bit in realization before her gaze softened. "I'm sorry to yell. I was just surprised– the Malfoys and the Weasleys don't… don't get along."
That's how she knew the name, Ariadne realized. She thought back to Diagon Alley and Draco's excitement over his father's brawl with Mr. Weasley. She should have realized that the Malfoys had enemies, especially after Ginny mentioned being a friend of Harry Potter's.
"That's okay. I don't know much about that, but I think you and I could be good friends. What do you say?" Ariadne held her hand out.
Ginny gripped it firmly, to Astoria's delight if her small squeal was any indication. "Friends."
In the Hogwarts Great Hall, Ariadne felt queasy as she waited to be sorted. The bumpy carriage ride hadn't helped – the reptilian horses pulling them along certainly did little to ease the ride, and the three girls focused instead on their chatter to ease their nerves.
Two kids had gone so far, to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw after Professor McGonagall plopped an old hat on their head. She squeezed her eyes shut and just as she thought she might be sick, a voice called her name.
"Black, Ariadne."
Quiet murmurs echoed through the Hall, but Ariadne was too nervous to notice. She didn't notice that she had walked up to the front until she was sat on a stool and a hat was placed on her head. She looked at Draco, who gave her an anticipatory smirk, and then at Ginny who flashed a quick thumbs up. She took a deep breath.
"Hmm," a voice grumbled into her mind. "Quite interesting. Yes– a mind like your mother's and a daring like your father's. His family's thirst as well and yes– loyal even. Where to put you?"
"I'd just like to go wherever's best for me." She thought pleadingly.
"Wherever's best for you..." the voice repeated. "You'd find something from every House, but only one will give you what you need. Better be
GRYFFINDOR!"
The murmurs began again, though this time Ariadne noticed. There was no cheer, as there had been for the other students. Ariadne looked to Draco for comfort once more, but he did not meet her eyes, and so she walked towards the Gryffindor table with her head held high, blood rising to her cheeks and tears glinting in her eyes.
She knew, of course, that Draco had expected her to be in Slytherin. His confidence had been so sure that she had expected the same. Ariadne also knew that Gryffindor and Slytherin had some sort of rivalry, though she hoped that he'd be able to overlook it. They had been friends recently, at least she'd thought.
More than anything else, Ariadne was torn about her father's role in her sorting. Daring like her father's? Daring – to join Lord Voldemort and to betray his friends? This was his house, and she was wary at the thought of being like him.
So lost in her thoughts, Ariadne looked up only when she noticed that the Hall had been silent for quite a while. Astoria was being sorted, and it appeared to be taking a while. Her eyes were furrowed up in frustration, as if she were arguing with the hat. After a few more minutes, it finally yelled out
"SLYTHERIN!"
Ariadne noticed Astoria sigh in relief, and she sent her a shaky smile. Making her way to the Slytherin table, Astoria sent one back as she joined her sister and began talking animatedly.
While Ariadne picked at her food, bothered to talk to her, preferring to ignore her presence. They probably knew– her last name was apparently a dead giveaway. Good to know, she thought sarcastically. She was only vaguely aware of the continued sortings– a Luna to Ravenclaw and small boy named Cyrus to Hufflepuff. At Ginny's turn, Ariadne's attention returned in full force.
Cheering for Ginny began as soon as her name was called, led by two identical red headed boys down the table to Ariadne's left. She smiled to herself at the show of support. Her sorting was fairly quick, and she was sent to Gryffindor almost as soon as she began. The table greeted her with a loud whoop, and Ginny plopped down next to Ariadne with a grin.
"You got quite a large applause!" Ariadne exclaimed brightly, hoping to disguise the yearning in her voice. Ariadne didn't expect or even want to be cheered for, but anything besides open hostility would certainly have been nice.
"I've got my whole family in the house," Ginny responded generously. "Not to mention my name isn't as... controversial. Well, they can all sod off. You'll prove them wrong, I'm sure of it."
For the first time in quite a while, Ariadne felt something warm bloom in her chest. A rush of gratitude washed over her.
"You knew? This whole time?"
"'Course. Doesn't matter to me though, does it? You're your own person. Now, your living with the Malfoys, on the other hand…" Ginny trailed off and looked at Ariadne with a teasing grin. At that moment, Ariadne was wholly and utterly thankful to have Ginny by her side and silently vowed to return the favor should she ever need it.
After dinner ended, the two girls reached the Common Room nearly dead on their feet. Her talk with Dobby that morning felt like a lifetime ago. All Ariadne wanted to do was get some sleep and hope for a fresh start with Draco in the morning.
"Wattlebird," she spoke to the portrait guarding the door, who opened the way. In the Common Room, a party was occurring in full force. Her chance to sleep nearly slipped from her fingers.
"What's going on here?" She yelled to Ginny over the noise.
"Not sure," Ginny yelled back. "I'll bet Fred and George know."
Ginny led Ariadne over to the two red-haired twins who had cheered for their sister earlier.
"What's going on here?" Ginny yelled at them.
"Well, hello to you too, little sister." The one on the left said, pulling her into a hug.
"Little Gryffindor sister," the right one corrected before joining.
Ginny pushed them off theatrically, but she couldn't hide the grin over taking her features.
"Yeah, yeah." She waved them away. "This is Ariadne, by the way." Ginny pulled Ariadne forward from where she had been standing awkwardly.
"Nice to meet you two."
"Ariadne Black." The one on the left grinned. "George and I were quite impressed by the stir you've caused already."
"Too right, Fred. Get our little sister into some trouble."
Ariadne grinned at their acceptance while Ginny scoffed. "Don't listen to them. That's George and that's Fred," she said, pointing to the opposite twins. "Now what's going on here?"
"Why sister, dear," Fred began. "Haven't you heard?"
George continued. "Harry and ickle Ronniekins missed the train. Flew to school in Dad's Ford Anglia!"
At that, the portrait swung open and two boys climbed inside. The roar of the Common Room tripled, becoming deafening. One boy red hair like Ginny, Fred and George, and the other had messy black hair and bright green eyes that were shocked as her took in his greeting.
It must be Harry Potter, Ariadne realized. Privately she thought that he was quite cute.
Ginny tugged at her hand. Ariadne looked at her and noticed that she had turned bright red. "Can we go? I'm feeling quite tired."
Ariadne thought that Ginny looked anything but, but nodded her assent. "I am as well, don't worry." She grabbed Ginny's arm and the two headed to their room together.
As Ariadne changed into her pajamas, Ginny laid on her four-poster bed while writing intently into a dingy little book. She looked far too absorbed to be disturbed. Instead, Ariadne looked arund the room and noticed the three names above the three remaining beds: Olive Dagwood, Romilda Vane, and Lola Leung.
The three girls entered while Ariadne slipped into bed. Well, two sauntered in together and the third followed closely behind.
"I'm Romilda. Romilda Vane." One girl said with quite a loud voice. She had long, curly dark hair and a rather prominent chin. "This is Lola," she pointed towards a pretty girl to her right, with pin-straight hair and almond-shaped eyes. Lola nodded "And that's Olive." She pointed now to the third girl trailing behind. She was quite short and had thick glasses. Olive held her hand up nervously.
"I'm Ariadne," she said leaning forward from bed. She paused and waited for Ginny to introduce herself, as Romilda had not allowed her friends. But Ginny did not even look up, far too engrossed in her writings. Ariadne coughed, and still nothing.
"That's Ginny."
Romilda nodded, still staring at her as Lola and Olive had begun to ready for bed. "You're very pretty, you know." Romilda said abruptly, distaste tinging her voice.
"Er– thank you." Ariadne responded awkwardly. She let a beat too long pass before remembering herself. "You are too."
"Hmm." And with that, Romilda turned away and got herself ready for bed. Ariadne laid back down and hoped that life at Hogwarts would get easier, or at least less confusing.
It didn't. The next morning, for example, Ginny's brother got a Howler that made all eyes turn to look at them as Ginny shrunk down at the table. Her defense classes weren't nearly as fun as she was hoping that they would be, with the professor just talking and quizzing about himself. How was she supposed to know the name of his first girlfriend? Meanwhile, Draco still wouldn't look at her and she didn't dare to write home to Narcissa, too afraid of Lucius' reaction.
Ariadne had expected she'd at least have Ginny and Astoria by her side, but Astoria had been avoiding her since the sorting and Ginny was, at almost all times, nowhere to be found. Ariadne had begun to worry, but whenever she pressed Ginny about her whereabouts she just laughed slightly nervously.
"I've been with my brothers. They just want to make sure I'm adjusting, you know."
Well, Ariadne didn't really, but she accepted the explanation and decided not to push. For now. But it was because of the missing Ginny and Astoria and Draco's avoidance and the fact that all the other students treated her like a pariah that Ariadne found herself, not for the first time, wandering the school grounds alone.
As she walked onto the Quidditch Pitch, the only place that she had not yet explored, it became clear to Ariadne that a fight was brewing and that Draco was at the center of it. Backed by the Slytherin Quidditch team and facing Harry Potter, the Gryffindor team, and Ginny's brother Ron and his friend Hermione, Draco had taken on a cruel expression that she'd seen before when he was talking to the House Elves.
"No one asked your opinion, you filthy Mudblood." She heard him yell. The response was instantaneous. Members of the Gryffindor team lunged for Draco while Ron pulled out his wand. She ran to Draco's side– he may not have been her friend anymore, but she was still his, and she really didn't understand what he had said.
It was too late. Ron had already cursed Draco, though the spell backfired onto himself due to his broken wand and he began to vomit slugs. Draco laughed in response, jeered on by his teammates. He did not notice Ariadne until she tugged on the sleeve of his robes. He stopped laughing abruptly, eyes widening.
"What did you say, Draco? What does it mean?"
Draco looked around to his laughing teammates before turning back to answer her. "I always forget you don't know too much. I called her what she is – a mudblood. It's for those dirty muggleborns who come to our school and sully our magic."
"Is that why you don't talk to me anymore? Because that's how you think of me?"
The grin wiped off of Draco's face. "What? You're not a mudblood. You're a Black."
"But I was raised in the muggle world," Ariadne spoke softly. "And I don't even know my blood status. I might not be a pureblood, you know."
Draco pulled her aside, away from the team. "Well, you're a witch Ariadne. You're a Black anyway. The other stuff doesn't really matter."
"It seems like it does, Draco. To you at least. It sounded awful, what you said."
At that, she pulled her arm away from Draco and ran to catch Harry, Hermione and Ron. Draco stood back silently.
Ariadne found them at Hagrid's Hut and though she'd never been before, she'd spotted Ginny walking around near there a couple days earlier. She mustered up all her Gryffindor courage and knocked softly on the door.
Hagrid opened it, his giant body covering the frame and then some. Ariadne looked up to meet his confused gaze.
"Hello, I'm Ariadne. I was hoping to speak with Hermione? It's nice to meet you."
Hagrid looked at her outstretched hand for a moment, only taking it after he noticed the red of her Gryffindor tie.
"Come on in," he said gruffly. "But I don't want no trouble now."
Ariadne nodded and walked in to find Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting at Hagrid's small table. She wondered briefly how he possibly sat to eat his meals but shook the thought away.
"Hello," she began. "I know you don't know me, but–"
"Whaddyou want," Ron spoke, spitting out slugs as he did. Ariadne tried not to cringe in disgust.
"I'm Ariadne." She started again. So did Ron.
"Know who you are," he spat more slugs. But whaddyou want?"
Harry and Hermione met her gaze curiously. She met theirs back.
"I just wanted to check on you and Hermione. Are you alright?"
"Did Malfoy send you? Saw you run to help him." Ron would not let up.
"You're friends with Malfoy?" Harry asked cautiously.
"No! Well–yes. I live with him." Harry recoiled even further. "It's not like that! I– er." Ariadne's voice got quiet. "I don't really have anyone else. My mother died and the Mal–" She cut herself off and started over, though she did notice that Harry sat back at her words, giving her the confidence to press forward.
"I didn't know what the word meant." Ariadne said. She looked at Hermione directly. "I'm sorry he said that to you. I'm new to the magic world and–"
"It's fine." Hermione said. "I didn't know what he meant either. I appreciate you coming down, though. And well–"
Harry cut in. "Can't choose your relatives. Have a cauldron cake." Harry pushed a plate towards her and sent her a grin. Ariadne blushed, but met his eyes as she sat.
"Thank you." She said, pouring as much as she could in her words. He nodded back.
Chapter 3! And they finally meet! A few things. I don't love an overload of OC's in stories (especially because an OC is the main character) so I aged Romilda up a year to put her into the dorm. Those three girls will be a very small part in the story, but I just wanted to have them introduced so that it wasn't just Ginny and Ariadne living together. Not that many actual characters are named that are in Ginny's year in the books as well, so I'll have to make do.
They've finally met! How was it? Please let me know what you think. It's not exactly what I had planned for them but the timing felt right. The trio will definitely be a larger part of the story now (especially Harry) so that Harry and Ariadne's relationship can grow. I'm also hoping to speed through second year because I do feel like the good stuff comes later, but if you feel like I'm going too fast or too slow let me know!
As always, please let me know what you think. I've already had one lovely reviewer and would love to see more! I think that usually the longer you let it sit the more reviews you get on a chapter, but I really do have so many ideas that I just can't wait to get down and then publish that I don't have the patience to let the chapters sit! But also, again, this is my first fic and I am worried about the characterizations and the speed and anything else that could go wrong or right. So if you hate it, let me know, but if you think it's not bad, let me know that too! Any feedback would be helpful.