Written In the Stars | s.b |

NINETEEN

The rest of second year went by in a blurred haze.

Ariah had made it her mission to avoid Marlene and Sirius at all costs. To make her avoidance unsuspicious, she began to drift away from everyone except for Meeka and Remus. She even switched her potions group to be with two hufflepuff boys, Amos Diggory and Henry Swan, and a hufflepuff girl, Lilah Mannings.

Unfortunately, they proved to be a fun group which made her detachment slightly more difficult.

Frankly, with her horrible mood and all the crazy emotions of fellow twelve-year-olds that impacted her, she ended up ditching classes quite a lot. By the end of the day, her head would be pounding and she would find herself releasing her food into the toilets nearest to her.

Ariah had found that when her own feelings were out of control, she couldn't hold back others around her. And as school came to a close, everyone's emotions went up in flames as they grew closer to exams.

She knew she had done wretchedly on all of her exams. She knew because Professor Sprout pulled her aside after grading and asked her if she would like to retake the exam. Ariah had said no.

Her head was pounding as she laid in the compartment, her head on James' lap and her feet speed across Remus and Peter. She held a book over her eyes, praying it would shut out the light and throw her in darkness. The movement of the train mixed with her ever-present migraine caused her intense nausea.

She couldn't control all the emotions coursing through her. Someone was angry, someone was jealous, someone was anxious and someone was just.... a hot mess. And the compartment wasn't quite. It was loud and she could feel Marlene and Sirius sitting so close, they might as well have been glued to each other.

Ariah groaned, tossing the book on the floor and marching out of the compartment.

She needed silence and peace.

Maybe it was unfair of her to treat her friends this way — and to barge out of their presence with nothing but a groan. But she couldn't breath.

Finding an empty compartment, she pulled herself in, collapsing on the cool bench after slamming the door shut. Taking in a deep breath, she swore she would never take advantage of breathing ever again.

For a second, she was able to feel nothing. Until a rush of anxiety and uncertainty opened the compartment door. Sighing, she sat up.

Sirius gave a small smile. "You okay?"

"I mean... not really but I can't tell if it's me that isn't okay, or everybody else," she responded, blowing her bangs out of her face. "I just needed to breath."

"I figured," Sirius said, sitting beside her. "... we haven't really talked since winter break..."

"Er... yeah," she said. "Sorry I've been.... elsewhere... in my head."

"I've noticed.... I've also noticed that necklace you always wear." He smirked.

"Oh!" Ariah's face went bright red as she turned to look out the window. She grabbed the necklace, looking at the glistening of the jewels.

"I didn't expect you to wear it," Sirius said.

"Er... well... you know I was named after a star too," she said, quickly coming up with some other reason to wear the necklace. "Ariah isn't necessarily apart of the Canis Major constellation but it's really close to it — in fact it is often right beside Sirius so... I'm wearing it.... for that.... that is the reason."

"Oh..." Ariah couldn't deny the slight hint of disappointment in Sirius voice. "I did not know that. That's interesting."

"Yeah... Marlene probably doesn't like me wearing it though, huh?"