Aria Black and the Battle for Hogwarts

Hogwarts

This is it. I stare out the window of the Burrow, butterflies in my stomach. Today we are going back to Hogwarts, with Snape as headmaster. Today, Ginny and I will face the unthinkable: the Hogwarts that isn't a home.

I feel bad for Ginny. Yeah, I've had some hard times. But I have Fred. She's Harryless. Harryless.

"Breakfast, breakfast." Molly chirps, but not merry at all. "Aria dear, do eat something."

I don't want to upset her, so I grab a pancake and walk out of the room to get changed into my scarlet robes. They are large on me. What will Molly say? I have, no doubt, gotten thinner since Dad's death, but this will emphasize the fact.

I decide to face it. I head downstairs. Molly is doing the dishes, and when she sees me, gives me a tight embrace. No one else is there. "Dearie, you're so brave!"

"Thanks Molly." I say quietly, not understanding how.

She wipes a tear away from her eyes. "It feels like just yesterday that Fred and George brought you home with them Easter break." She says. "I love you like a daughter, Aria. So... take care of Ginny, will you?"

I accidentally think of the Department of Mysteries. I told I'd protect Ginny then too, and see how that worked. Before I can stop myself, I nod.

Molly's face brightens, and she squeezes me even tighter. "Oh, Aria! Bless you!"

"Er-Mum?" Fred asks. I didn't see him there, and apparently neither did Molly. "Why are you flattening my girlfriend?"

Molly lets me go and looks sheepishly at her son. "No reason, dear. I'll let you two talk."

Molly wipes her hands on her apron and leaves the room, looking sadly over her shoulder at me.

Fred scratches the back of his neck. "Ari, Mum doesn't want George and I going to the train station."

"Why?" I ask.

"WBWW's full of Anti-Death Eater stuff. And... George, Lee, and I are going to start a radio station that tells people that truth. I-"

I hug him, vulnerability sinking through. "Oh Fred! Stay safe, alright? I couldn't live with myself if you died!"

"Of course I will, Ari. But, you've got to promise me you won't do anything to make Snape kill you, okay? If you need to find me, you've got the watch George and I gave you that shows our whereabouts. Keep digging deep into your mother's past, and protect Gin and the rest of Hogwarts, alright. I'll miss you, Ari."

"I'll miss you too." I mumble into his chest. I don't want to let the hug go. But the entrance of Arthur, Molly, George, and Ginny signals its end.

There are no words to be spoken at the breakfast table. We all sit there in silence. Ginny stares off into space, the twins fiddle with some WBWW stuff, Arthur stares at the Daily Prophet, and Molly cleans up the room up with her wand. I sit next to Arthur, burning a rope with my wand.

"Merlin's beard!" Arthur exclaims. He throws the Prophet on the table, showing us the headline: HARRY POTTER WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ON THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE.

I curse. "That's bloody mental!" George yells.

Ginny just sits there, a blank look on her face. I pull her into a hug. "It's okay, Gin." I say. "He'll be okay."

But even I don't believe that's true.

***

Only Molly, Arthur, and Remus accompany us to the train station. "Oh, behave, both of you." Molly says, watching the disguised Death Eater a few yards away out of the corner of her eye.