Determination|| Remus lupin

chapter seventeen

"Sirius? Ariana?" Ariana awoke at Justin's confused tone, she smiled at him at once, glad he had ventured out of his room.

"Good morning Justin." She greeted him, he frowned at her.

"What are you doing down here? It's four in the morning." He asked.

"Nightmares, what about you?" She responded, he shrugged.

"Nightmare." He replied. She reached out to him and he cautiously hugged her. Sirius was still asleep, and she had a feeling only she knew about Justin.

"May I ask you something?" She asked, he nodded, sitting down beside her. "Do James' friends know about you?"

Justin sighed. "Not really, I mean they know of me, but I've never actually met them."

"Is that the way you prefer it?" She questioned. He frowned.

"I don't know, sometimes they act the way my bullies do, and it scares me." Justin answered. He sighed. "Do you think I push James away too much?"

"James respects that you need your space. I believe that he just wants to make sure you're okay." Ariana replied. "He worries about you."

"I don't want him to worry about me." Justin sighed.

"He's your brother, of course he's going to worry about you." She told him, he smiled wistfully at her.

"Thanks Ariana."

"Go and get some sleep Justin." She suggested, he nodded and got up, bidding her good night and going back upstairs. She smiled to herself, before closing her eyes and falling back asleep.

^^^
It was James who found them next. Smiling at the sleeping pair, before waking them. Sirius was first to wake, shortly followed by Ariana. "What are you two doing down here?" James frowned.

"Had a nightmare, so did Arie." Sirius responded, James' expression softened at once.

"About your family?" He asked, Sirius nodded. "What about you Arie?"

"The day I escaped." She replied. "It was rather terrifying."

"I bet it was." James squeezed onto the couch in between them, taking each of their hands. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sirius just shook his head, Ariana considered it, but then she too declined the offer. " How are you feeling Padfoot?"

"I'm fine." It was clear Sirius was still shook up, and they respected that, he had been through a lot, of which he did not want them to know, and he was obviously not comfortable with their knowledge of it.

"I'm glad you're here with us, both of you." James squeezed their hands and smiled at his two friends.

"James I'm scared they'll come for me." Ariana confessed, they both glanced at her with sadness.

"They can't, I mean they don't know where you are. Besides you've got Dumbledores protection." James told her.

"I've escaped before. I... I lived in Kent for five months until they found me." She told them. James wrapped his arms around her. He was a big fan of hugs.

"We won't let that happen to you." He told her adamantly.

"James, I am not imposing am I? You all have such a wonderful friendship." She told him.

"Arie, there are elements to our friendship that you don't understand and aren't part of. But you are as one of us as any of us is. We care about you, you always have a place with us." James told her at once.

"We Love you Arie." Sirius added with a cheeky grin.

"And I you." She smiled back at them.

They talked pleasantly about nothings for a long while, until Peter and Remus ventured downstairs to see the trio sat together.

"Are you three alright?" Remus asked as he and Peter joined them.

"Arie and Sirius had nightmares." James answered, noting the concern that immediately flashed onto both his friends faces. "They're fine." He added to save his friends all the questions.

"What do you want to do today? Seeing as we are all here." Remus asked, he always was the practical one.

"Why don't we go for a wander? Show Arie around, I'm guessing you haven't seen much of London before?" James suggested, Ariana nodded her agreement, she briefly remembered coming to London once before, but it had been so different then that she scarcely recognised it in the brief look she had had.

"Sounds good to me." Peter nodded.

"It does give up the opportunity to get some more school supplies. Arie hasn't seen Diagon Alley yet." Remus added.

"That's that decided." Sirius laughed. "But first I'm hungry."

They all laughed at this comment, and when Mrs Potter stuck her head around the door and announced breakfast was ready, they just laughed all the more.

Justin did not join them for breakfast, although that was not unusual, what was unusual was that there was not breakfast set aside for him, instead Mr Potter was talking rapidly on the phone to what could be assumed was some sort of pharmacist. It seemed Justin had had some sort of turn in his health, like the time he had collapsed in the kitchen earlier in the holiday.

"Mum, is he okay?" James hissed to his mother as the other three boys began to have a heated debate about breakfast foods.

"I don't know, James we might have to take him to st Mungos again." She told her son worriedly.

"Mum, you can't, they only made him worse last time. They think he's some sort of freak." James told her frantically.

"Oh sweetheart, there's no point in getting het up about it. You have fun with your friends. We can handle Justin." She told him gently, he sighed but nodded.

"Talk to him for me?" James asked, his eyebrows knitting together in worry, his mother nodded and ruffled his already messy head of hair.

"I will. Now go and have fun."

The group left the Potter household just over an hour later, and were headed into the centre of London, when Ariana, froze, her eyes wide, staring at the person who stood just ahead of them, staring menacingly.

"Hello Ariana, I can't believe how long it has been." He just smiled, and she had to stop herself from screaming.