The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Thirty | Goodnight, Sir

Ariana stood in silence, letting the information wash over her like a tidal wave of boiling water. The idea of being rid of all emotion went straight out of the window.

Why were he and her mother so close in the first place? After all of this time, she has had family? Even worse, he had treated her like shit since she arrived at Hogwarts.

"I'm quite tired. Thank you for the lesson. Goodnight, sir," Ariana said, her tone just as icy and emotionless as her expression. She immediately walked towards the door, pulling it open.

"Miss. O'Connor," Snape growled.

Ariana simply left the room, closing the door behind her. As she strode towards the stairs, the witch glanced at her watch. Its golden hands pointed to 10:14 P.M.

How could this be kept from her? Why had it been kept from her? After all of her suffering and loneliness, why hadn't she been told that yes, she does have family.

Ariana only stopped storming through the castle when Professor McGonagall caught her walking around the west wing if the first floor.

"O'Connor, what are you doing walking around the castle at this time?"

"I'm on my way back from talking to Professor Snape, ma'am," Ariana replied, trying to suppress the anger swirling inside her.

"Do you have a permission slip or note from Professor Snape?" McGonagall asked.

Ariana was about to craft a response when another, older masculine voice cut her off, "There's no need to worry, Minerva. I am responsible for Ariana being out at such an hour. I shall return her to her common room."

Dumbledore appeared by her side. He bade Professor McGonagall goodnight and escorted Ariana up to Gryffindor Tower.

"How was your first lesson, Ariana?" he asked, silver robes billowing when he walked.

Ariana decided against questioning him on her recent discovery, so she smiled. "It went well, thank you. I still have a long way to go before I master Occlumency, though."

"Of course. I think it would be impossible to master such an intricate art in the course of two hours," Dumbledore said lightheartedly.

"I imagine so," Ariana agreed, breathing a laugh.

As they arrived at the Fat Lady's portrait, Dumbledore spoke again, "I'm pleased to hear you had a productive session. Goodnight, Ariana."

"Goodnight, Professor," said Ariana, stepping inside the portrait hole.

Hermione, Harry and Ron were all awake, sitting in their favourite places in front of the fire. Ariana dropped onto the sofa beside Ron, realising how exhausted she was when her legs stopped supporting her.

"He hasn't killed you then?" Ron asked.

"I don't think so," Ariana replied. She ran her hands over her face. "No, I'm still alive."

Ignoring her sarcasm, Hermione leaned forward in her armchair. "How did it go?"

"Well," Ariana began, also leaning forwards. "If you like having your mind invaded by Snape and watching him witness all of your private memories, it's fantastic."

"He done what?" Harry asked, beginning to get angry at the thought of Snape invading Ariana's mind like that.

"Yes, it was terrible, but I can now use Occlumency to a certain degree," Ariana said, looking on the bright side to prevent Harry becoming furious.

"Are you going back?" Ron questioned, shuffling in his seat.

Ariana paused; she actually had no idea if she was due to return. "I imagine so."

"You don't know?" Hermione enquired, frowning.

"He told me I'd be given a date sometime tomorrow," Ariana lied.

"Okay," Ron yawned.

"You didn't have to stay up for me," Ariana smiled. "I do appreciate it, though."

The four Gryffindors soon drifted away to their respective dormitories. Ariana lay awake for hours wondering why this secret was a secret in the first place.

Sorrow and anger bubbled inside her stomach, her heart aching. The only good thing she could take from the experience right now was that she had seen her mother.

Ariana O'Connor looked just like her mother, sounded like her as well. Her hair colour was still a mystery, she would feel better if she saw an image of her father; maybe she had similar hair to him?

The girl's eyes began to sting, fresh tears forming along the rims of her beautiful eyes. For the first time in a long time, she allowed them to fall. She never sobbed or gasped, just stared blankly out of the window, feeling warm, salty tears tricky from her eyes.

By the time three o'clock was upon Ariana, she was incredibly tired. Her eyes were stinging, her body ached and she had a whopped of a headache.

Apparently learning to use Occlumency was something that took a lot of energy, and Ariana was definitely feeling the effects of her lesson.

In the end, Ariana managed to sleep for five and a half hours. She awoke at nine A.M., feeling as if she had been hit by a car.

The witch got dressed, fixed her hair into a neat bun and applied some light make up.

"Good morning," she said, finding her three friends sitting in the common room.

"Morning," they chorused.

"Here. We thought you'd want something to eat when you woke up," Hermione said, handing her a stack of toast tucked in a napkin.

Ariana accepted it and sat down on the sofa between Harry and Hermione. "Thank you. You should of woken me up."

"You were tossing and turning all night, mumbling in your sleep, so I left you to sleep. It's Sunday," Hermione replied.

Ariana smiled, beginning to eat a slice of toast.

"Bad dream?" Ron questioned, stealing a bit of Ariana's toast.

"Something along those lines," Ariana answered cryptically. "Do you want to go and visit Hagrid later?"

"Yes... okay," Harry answered, very aware of her abrupt change of subject.

Hopefully some fresh air and a chat to Hagrid would take her mind off of everything that happened within the past 12 hours.