The Wolf's Lion ~ Harry Potter (Editing)

Chapter Fifty-Six | The End of Another Year

As predicted, Mrs. Weasley had accosted Ariana as soon as she set foot through the hospital doors. She had been fretting about where the girl was, then she saw the burn on her face. The woman immediately questioned Ariana about what happened, and the witch honestly had no idea. She was told to take her potion and fell asleep soon after that. Much to her surprise, the burn healed within half an hour of it appearing.

The next few days were a blur. Ariana gad already seen so many horrible things that it seemed like her body just refused to put much effort into remembering any new horrid experiences. The worst one by far was when she and Harry had met with Mr. and Mrs. Diggory the day after the task.

Ariana had expected them to be absolutely livid and blame herself and Harry for Cedric's death, and she felt that they deserved to feel like that. She was astounded when they did not blame them, instead thanked them for returning his body to them.

Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview and Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears. It was almost as harrowing as when Mr. Diggory had screamed over Cedric's body.

"He suffered very little then," Mrs. Diggory said, when Harry and Ariana had told her how Cedric had died. The white-haired witch and her friend made sure to tell them just how brave he had been. "And after all, Amos... he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy."

When they got to their feet, she looked down at Ariana and Harry and said, "You look after yourselves, now."

Ariana shared a look with Harry; they were both thinking the same thing. They picked up their bags of money and attempted to give them to the grieving couple.

"You take this," Harry muttered to Mrs. Diggory.

"It should've been Cedric's -" Ariana said, but she was cut off.

Mrs. Diggory backed away from them. "Oh no, dears, it's yours, I couldn't... you keep it."

~~~~~

Ariana and Harry had returned to Gryffindor Tower that evening, thankful to see that no one was bothering them. According to Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore had requested that the pair weren't questioned about the events of the previous night. It had come as a huge relief to the white-haired witch to hear this; she had been put through the pain of reliving the experience once, she couldn't handle having to recite the story another thousand times.

When she walked thought the hallways, people would avoid her like she was contagious, which technically she was, but only during a full moon if she was to bite them. Her fellow students whispered behind her hands, presumably about the mystery behind the third task and Cedric's death. Perhaps they were coming up with their own theories about how he died.

Ariana really did not care. She had Harry, Ron and Hermione, and liked it best when they were alone, enjoying some peace and quiet. Sometimes they would play games of chess and others the quartet would sit in front of the fire as usual, though their moods were a little more somber than they had been the last time they sat there, which was before the task. Now, Ariana would take the anxiety she felt over the knawing guilt and misery she felt now any day.

Fiera sat with Ariana whenever she was in her dormitory or in the common room. She had been quite a fan attraction, and still was, but Ariana had asked they no one bother the bird too much, to show her the same respect they'd show a new student. When the witch had spare time, she talked to the phoenix, wanting to get to know her, since she had no recollection of the last time they had seen each other. She also sat with Nova as she had a habit of doing, letting the owl know she hadn't been forgotten about.