The Baby Project

Saddened

The weekend passed slowly for Ara. She just had to sit in the hospital bed and wait for the swelling to go down and the bruising to lessen. Madam Pomfrey was good company, though, and when she didn't have to attend to anyone else, she and Ara would talk. Ara was happy when she told her about her mother and father when they were young. She had heard many stories about them from family friends, but this was a nice change. She beamed when Madam Pomfrey said that she reminded her so much of her mother. Her heart for her family and to keep them safe was something that she should never lose. 

"Do you think the sorting hat is always right?" Ara had finally worked up the courage over the past two days to ask Madam Pomfrey what had been on her mind since the start of term. 

"Yes." Madam Pomfrey had never heard such a question from a child. I mean, the sorting hat was old magic that was there to know your true self. She had seen many children through the years that were sorted in what seemed like a wrong house, but it always ended up being the perfect house for them. It brought out the truest of their qualities. "Why are you asking such a question?"

"I know that I am meant to be in Slytherin. I am cunning and ambitious as my brother is, but this part of me yearns to be in Gryffindor like my mother. Hyperion is the first Malfoy to be sorted into a different house, and I just thought that it was going to be me."

"Well, dear, if you know you are sorted into the correct house, are you just jealous that your brother is different? Or is there something else?"

"I am not sure. I admire my mother so much, and I want to make her proud." The thought had never been spoken allowed. She really didn't know if anything she did make her mother proud. She had been attached to her father's hip since she was a baby that she didn't know if her mother was proud of her. Her father was always the one to tell her so. 

"Ara, your mother would be proud of anything you did. When she first found out she would be having triplets, she was so scared, but then she and your father realized they would have a family. To have three precious miracles that would be able to do extraordinary things. They sacrificed so much during the war. They both did. They are proud that you are here. Proud of what you love, what you do. Your mother didn't lose a lot of her childhood not to be proud because her daughter isn't in the same house she was in."

Ara nodded her head. Her parents really didn't talk about the war. Almost never. The only time she could really remember was recent. Her father sat the three of them down and explained how he had done some things while he was in school that he regretted. He had changed a lot and really worked to rebuild relationships with people, but some people still didn't trust him, and he wanted to make sure that they would be alright at school.  It was a vague conversation, and when she had asked him about it further, he wouldn't say anything.

Madam Pomfrey had taken Ara's silence as the conversation had ended and got up from the edge of the bed. She was going to have to talk to McGonagall about all of this. She really did believe that Ara had broken her own ankle. She thought the girl would have told her by now, but the way her eyes were just now. Saddened by something weighing on her heart. She knew that she wasn't going to give away such a secret. She wondered whether Ara would be willing to talk to McGonagall about the whole situation. Perhaps she would, she knew the Witch better, and McGonagall had a way about her. 

It was finally Monday, and Ara was finally able to leave the hospital wing. Scorpius and Hyperion were there that morning to help her down to breakfast before classes started. It was nice having Scorpius in the same class in the same year because they had mostly the same schedule. Hyperion even had two classes with them. DADA and Potions. 

"How are you feeling?" Hyperion put his arm around his sister's and helped her walk. Ara was still a little wobbly, but she felt well enough and didn't want to miss any classes.