The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Thirty-Six | The 'Giant Mistake'

As Hermione already knew, Harry and Ron were stunned into silence for a moment. The ginger boy was the first to explode, but they eventually wrapped their heads around it.

The ball drew to a close at midnight, and Ariana bid goodnight to Ivan. He had been concerned about her after her disappearing act, but she told him she had got a migraine, which wasn't a complete lie, since the amount of perfume had given her a headache.

She felt guilty about lying to him but its was it was necessary. Was she supposed to tell him that she howls at the moon once a month and has a mate... No, she thought not.

She enjoyed the remainder of the night with him, having recieved a Kiss on the back of her hand when he retired to the Durmstrang ship at half past twelve.

As he hall began to become less crowded, Ron and Hermione were at it again.

"You know the solution then don't you," Hermione shouted, absolutely furious.

Ariana made her way out of the hall, cautiously walking up to her quarrelling friends. By the looks of it Hermione was about to combust all over the place, angry tears brewing in her eyes.

"Go on," said Ron, also pissed.

"Next time there's a ball pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does, and not as a last resort," Hermione stated loudly, hands clenched by her side.

"Well that's completely off the point. Harry..."

Harry was about to ask Ariana what was going on but Hermione made it over to him first.

"Where have you been? Nevermind! Off to bed both of you," she demanded, watching in the verge of tears as a confused Harry trailed Ron up the stairs.

"They get scary when they get older," Ron said quietly as he ascended the staircase.

"Ron you spoil everything!" Hermione yelled, making the boys dart around the corner, out of sight.

Ariana saw Hermione sit on the stairs, not caring that people standing in the hall were openly staring at her. With one furious glance from Ariana, they turned away, going back to their conversations.

Ariana lowered herself beside Hermione, pulling the girl into her side. The witch sat and consoled her friend, rubbing her back as she quietly sobbed into her neck. "I'm certain he'll come around, once he has realised his mistake."

After returning drawing a few watery laughs from Hermione, the pair decided to return to Gryffindor Tower. The girls Ariana shared a dormitory with finally fell asleep around two a.m. but the werewolf, on the other hand, remained awake until four reading her book, completely fascinated by the intricate description of defensive magic.

It had been an amazing surprise to of seen Remus, one which she hoped would happen again soon if she survived the next task. When she sat under the comforting weight of his arm, Ariana felt as if she could of stayed there for hours. It was a pull as strong as Hagrid on steroids.

The weeks trickled by in horrid blobs of time. Ariana was growing nervous once again, as the second task grew nearer. She felt as if someone had bewitched the clocks, making time go much faster than usual. A knot formed in her stomach, growing bigger with each day that passed.

She had started working on her egg. The witch studied it for weeks, trying to deduce what exactly it was trying to tell her about the upcoming task.

The big news came from Harry. He told his friends that Hagrid was a half-giant, which didn't come as much of a surprise to everyone in their group except Ron, of course.