Lionheart ~ Harry Potter (Under Heavy Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Four | Break-In at Gryffindor Tower

Harry and Ariana had both began to overcome the new information, but it was incredibly difficult. The female of the pair still became irritated whenever she thought about how the seemingly massive secret of her parents' names was still being kept from her.

As per usual, Hermione and Ariana continued to ace their classes, with the added help of their Time Turner. Despite the amount of homework they recieved, which was really taking its toll.

As with every year, the four Gryffindors were in each other's company at every opportunity. Ariana found comfort with them, but she also felt a peculiar sense of calm with Lupin. Despite knowing about his condition, it didn't make her any less comfortable in his presence. If anything, it made her respect him more. She had never approved of werewolf segregation; most werewolves never asked to be bitten, so why make them suffer even more by denying them jobs in order to make a living?

It was absolutely ridiculous. As far as Ariana was concerned, the anti-werewolf legislation should be abolished immediately.

~~~~~

Ariana had long fallen asleep while reading a Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook. She was lying on the red sofa infront of the extinguished fire, the hardback book lying open on her stomach.

She whimpered in her sleep, her eyeballs dancing under her eyelids. As she twitched, her dreams became even more malevolent, torturing the poor girl as they usually did.

Screams woke her up. The white-haired girl gasped and sat up, immediately grabbing her wand. All of the Gryffindor boys filed into the room, their faces pale and scared. As the room filled up, the candlelights around the room switched on, sensing the presence of people inside.

Ariana aimed her wand at the fire. "Incendio," she whispered. A small jet of fire erupted from the tip of her wand, lighting the fire, giving the room more of a warm glow.

"What happened?" Ariana questioned, wading through the thickening crowd towards Harry and a terrified Ron.

"Sirius Black!" Ron gasped, his arms hugging himself.

Ariana looked over at Harry for confirmation, and to her dismay, he nodded his head. "Are you both alright?" she asked rapidly, giving the boys an once-over with her eyes, checking for injuries.

"Yes, we're okay," Harry replied, nodding his head a tiny bit.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, appearing in the middle of the group. She, like everyone else except Ariana, was in her pyjamas, Crookshanks cradled in her arms.

"Sirius Black was in the dormitory," Harry stated, clutching his wand.

Ariana eyed Ron worriedly, taking in his petrified appearance. "Ron, you need to calm down or I'll have to give you a Calming Draught."

"He tried to kill me," Ron stuttered. His three friends all stared at him with concern, and Ariana gave him a side hug, squeezing his shoulders.

Professor McGonagall, who Percy, as the Head Boy, had went to fetch, appeared. She, too, was dressed in her pyjamas. Her body was wrapped in a red tartan dressing gown and her hair was down over her shoulders, which was a peculiar sight to behold.

"What happened in here?" she questioned, looking at all of her students.

"Sirius Black, Professor. He was in the dorm," Ron told her, more confident this time around.