Can't Help Falling In Love - Harry Potter (Book Two)

No Judgement

Monday, 7th of August 1995

Ariana would never have confessed her true emotions that morning as she descended the dusty stairs of 12 Grimmauld Place. She had too much pride to tell everyone else that she had hardly slept, for the anxiety she felt made her stomach churn.

She could hear dull voices sounding from the kitchen, but nobody sounded particularly upbeat, which only made her feel worse. For all the house was full of bad memories, dark magic, prejudice and bullying, every morning she had been staying there, that kitchen had been full of laughter and chat.

When she finally entered the kitchen, she found herself searching for someone in particular, and felt her heart somersault when she realised he wasn't there.

"Where is he?" She glanced around the room frantically, not daring to believe the truth, which was that she had missed him leave.

"He's already left, dear," Mrs Weasley stated, pity on her face. "I'm sure he's absolutely fine,"

"He has to be!" Hermione practically shrieked, and Ariana wasn't entirely sure whether she was trying to convince the others, or herself. "They have simply no grounds to expel him,"

"Here's hoping, he's got such a rotten temper, I wouldn't like to see what he'd be like if he had his wand snapped," Sirius pondered, moreso to himself than anybody else. The slight smirk on his tired face betrayed the pride he felt for his godson.

————

"You look as if you need distracting," Ariana was sat at the kitchen table, head resting in the palm of her hand, as she rhythmically glanced at the front door every thirty seconds, praying that soon enough Harry would waltz through the door, tell them he had gotten off scotch-free, take her in his arms and-

"Earth to Ana!" Hermione spoke again, clicking her fingers in Ariana's face. She smirked as reality washed over her friend, who had been snapped out of her thoughts. Her very, very predictable thoughts.

"What's on your mind, Dumbles?" Ginny asked, as she followed Hermione. Ariana simply rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me that!"

"Don't change the subject! You're thinking about him, again, and I think it's about time you told your girls all about it," With that, Hermione was grabbing Ariana by the sleeve of her jumper, whilst Ginny was opening the freezer and retrieving three tubs of ice cream.

Two minutes later, she found herself lying on her bed, Hermione and Ginny staring at her, eyes wide and mouths grinning, waiting to hear the news they already knew.

"What is it you're wanting me to say, here?" Ariana huffed, stabbing her spoon into the ice cream and stuffing it into her mouth.

"Well, we're waiting to hear you confess your undying love for our good friend Harry, so that we can all sleep at night knowing you're not in soul crushing denial," Ginny explained.

"Fine," Ariana sighed. "I'm in love with Harry, are you happy?"

The two girls gawped, unable to believe it had been that easy to extract such information.

"Are you really?" Hermione's voice was high pitched, and Ariana laughed, shaking her head.

"No! And I'm not sure where you got the idea that I am!" Liar, a voice said in the back of her mind.

"You can't get away with lying to us, Ana, we've known you for far too long," Hermione pointed an accusatory finger in Ariana's direction. "I see it in your eyes, I hear it in your voice. It would be much easier on you if you had someone to confide in!"

Of course, it helped Hermione that she already knew Harry Potter was head over heels in love with Ariana Dumbledore, for he had already confessed this information to herself and Ron months before. All she needed was a confession from Ariana, and she could rest easy in the knowledge the universe would do what it needed to do to bring them together.

"I mean..." Ariana trailed off, thinking about her friendship with Harry, and what it mean to her.

He had been one of her best friends for the last four years. He was probably the bravest person she knew, he had been through unbelievable trauma and still had a kinder heart than most. He put everyone before himself, there wasn't a selfish bone in his body. She knew if she ever needed anything, she could always rely on Harry to help. And let's face it, he wasn't hard on the eye. Over the past year, she had found herself lost in his eyes, staring at him across classrooms, thinking about him whenever she had a spare moment.

"Maybe there is something there," Ariana's voice was small, and she didn't miss the way Ginny and Hermione had glanced at one another, giddy looks on their faces.

But Ariana also had to admit to herself that she was terrified. She had come close a few times to realising the true extent of her feelings, that she was in love with him. The thought of him not feeling the same, or Merlin forbid reciprocating her feelings but deciding down the line that he was bored of her, it was hard to stomach. She couldn't live with herself if she threw away one of the purest friendships she had ever known, on a silly little childhood crush.

"I just can't imagine life without him, you know?" Ariana said. "He brings me so much comfort, amongst all the chaos, all the noise, he brings peace. How do I know the difference between loving him and just having a fleeting crush?"

"We see the way you look at him, Ana, and we see the way he looks at you," Ginny explained. "I've never seen anyone look at someone with so much love. It's undeniable. You need to follow your heart, what is your heart telling you?"

"I'm scared if I say it out loud, it becomes real," Ariana whispered, but couldn't suppress the smile that was growing on her face, at the thought of one day being able to say these same words to the man himself. "But I am, you know I am. I'm completely in love with Harry Potter,"

"You have to tell him!" Hermione couldn't suppress her own excitement at the revelation. She would never betray Harry, but she also knew Ariana was the sort to need a little nudge in the right direction before she would confess something as serious as love.

"I can't, he's got so much going on. The last thing he needs is a bombshell like that!" Ariana retorted. "Besides, he could have any girl in the world, why would he even look twice at me?"

"Have you seen yourself?!" Ginny exclaimed, whilst Hermione just laughed, the smug look of a woman who knew all the information plastered on her face.

"Perhaps you just need to tell him," She shrugged. "But I know him, I'm fairly certain he's even more besotted than you are,"