Secrets, Secrets

Recovering from her shock, Ari pulled a sweatshirt on, changed into jeans, pulled her hair into a messy ponytail, and shoved her feet into her Nikes. She raced through the halls and skidded to a stop outside Sirius' quarters, then raised her fist (the one with the now-crumpled letter in it) to knock on the door. Before she could, however, Sirius pulled the door open and pulled her inside. Remus was already there, and Ari sank into a chair cross-legged as Sirius set the odd charms on his quarters.

"Who have you told?" Sirius asked tensely. Ari shook her head, not breaking eye contact with him. He had bags under his eyes and looked exhausted; bruises were showing on his wrists and hands, and his posture was tense and stiff.

"No one," Ari replied, almost shaking with fear at the expression on his face. She glanced over at Remus and saw that he bore a similar expression. "W-what's going on?"

"Another attack," Sirius said shortly; Ari knew he wasn't mad at her and glanced up as Abby came into the room as well. "We need to go see Dumbledore, now."

Ari walked behind Remus and Sirius to Dumbledore's office, not even chancing a glance at her mother beside her for fear that her façade would break down. Only when Taylor pulled her onto his lap in the office did Ari finally look around.

The room was packed with people, all of whom were being quietly observed by Dumbledore. Snape stood near the headmaster, speaking softly with him; Ginny was standing in front of Harry with her arms wrapped around him while he looked around; Ron and Hermione were sitting quietly next to them; Abby and Sirius had moved to stand on Dumbledore's other side to catch snippets of what was being said; Remus was acting almost as a buffer between Snape and Sirius.

"I think," Dumbledore said at last, "that we need to get a few select people out of here--tonight. Ari, Taylor, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny will be taking a Portkey to Grimmauld Place in only a short time. Abby, Sirius, Remus, I'm sure you'll want to go ahead. Also, there may or may not be other guests." Sirius, Abby, and Remus swept wordlessly from the room as McGonagall entered.

"Headmaster, Mr. Filch is complaining of students being out of bed."

"Go head him off, tell him anything, if you will, please, Minerva. After that, please send these students' trunks to Headquarters."

McGonagall nodded and also left the room. Snape soon followed, completely ignoring the students, and Dumbledore beckoned them forward. Their Portkey was an old scrap of cotton, and once they each were touching it, the Portkey activated. Ari felt herself being dragged through a whirlwind of colors, and when her feet slammed into solid ground, she managed to steady herself. Ron, however, staggered into her, and Taylor caught her just before she hit the ground. Finally righted, Ari looked around.

They were standing in the drawing room at Grimmauld Place, and each looking as dazed as the next.

"That was... interesting," Hermione commented wryly as they went upstairs. "I just wish it had been a bit more illuminating."

Ari hung back, and when Taylor started to hang back as well, she shook her head. She sank onto the bottom step and waited for the inevitable call into the kitchen. Only fifteen minutes later, Abby came up and found her daughter on the stairs.

"Ari?" she said quietly.

"I'm okay," Ari said softly. "Just thinking."

Abby nodded and proceeded upstairs. When footsteps began echoing down the stairs, Ari stood up, then followed everyone else into the kitchen. She sat between Ginny and Taylor, across from her parents, and waited. The tension became too much, and Ari snapped.

"Did you know?" she shot at Remus, who simply shrugged. Ari turned her anger on Sirius instead. "And YOU?!" she spat, her eyes pure ice. When Sirius shook his head and started to reply, she pushed back from the table so hard her chair fell over, and fled upstairs.

Sirius stared blankly at the overturned chair, his exhaustion beginning to get the best of him. Taylor shook himself out of his stupor after a few moments, and followed Ari. Sirius watched him go, then slid his hand into Abby's and squeezed gently. She returned his gesture of love, and they fell into a quiet conversation with Remus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione; Ginny was so exhausted she was almost falling asleep on Harry's shoulder.

Taylor paused outside Ari's door, listening. When he didn't hear anything, he knocked softly. "Ari?" He called quietly. "It's me." To his surprise, the door opened a bit, and even in the dark it was clear Ari had been crying.

"Hi, Tay," she said hoarsely, then opened the door wider in a silent invitation. He walked in as she re-set the charms on the room and collapsed into his arms. "I c-can't f-face them! It's not their fault, it's not, why am I being so terrible to them, Tay?"

"Shh, Ari, they aren't mad at you," he said soothingly. "They're worried about you. You aren't being terrible, you're terrified and worried. But, Ari?" Taylor gently lifted her chin and wiped her tears away. "I'm here for you."

She didn't reply for a moment, then pulled him down into a heated, needy kiss. When they pulled back, she moaned, "Please, Tay, please." Much more quickly than ever before, their clothes were shed, and Ari laid back on the bed with its soft gold comforter, pulling Taylor with her. "I love you," she said quietly as they became one.

Much later, they were side-by-side under the soft, warm blankets, and Ari glanced up to meet his gaze. "You're beautiful, Ari. And I love you more than I can say. Your family loves you."

"I know," she whispered softly, running her fingers along his jawline. She yawned and closed her eyes, secure in his arms, before she slipped past dreams and into a deep sleep.

When Ari woke, bright sunlight was pouring into the room. She was alone, but the spot Taylor had been in was still warm; he had just recently left. A single pink rose was laying on the pillow, along with a note written in gold ink. With a smile, Ari sat up and realized she was clothed; she no doubt had Taylor to thank for that. The charms had obviously been removed, as well, and Ari heard footsteps on the landing just before some light knocks.

"It's open," Ari called quietly; she already knew those footsteps.

Sirius opened the door and Ari felt another pang of guilt. He looked, to be blunt, horrible, but smiled a bit at her. "It's almost lunchtime, are you hungry?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry about last night--"

"Ari. It's okay. You just surprised me, it's me that should be apologizing. Of everyone, you and Harry have the most right to know what's going on."

"Actually, it's okay. The less we know the less we can reveal, I think."

Sirius smiled wanly at her. "That's not my influence, that's your mother's." Ari shrugged, and his expression lightened a bit. "Get dressed and come on down. There's a meeting in a little while that you're all supposed to sit in on." He left, and Ari slowly dragged herself out of bed to get dressed.

When she finally made it to the kitchen, every eye was on her. "I'm sorry," she murmured, not daring to look at her mother--or Taylor. The latter slipped his hand into hers in silent encouragement, and she met her mother's gaze.

"Ari, it's okay. You controlled your emotions well."

"You really did, Ari," Remus agreed. "Don't be so hard on yourself."

"Yeah, that's my job," Harry quipped. Remus raised one eyebrow at his godson, but Ari was smiling a bit, and at the moment that was all that really mattered. She managed to eat what was placed in front of her, and other than her oddly quiet mood, seemed in good spirits. Not long after the group finished eating, more people began to file in, and Ari played a game of ID with herself.

Tonks, Kingsley, Madam Bones, Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, all the Weasleys, and (to Ari's surprise despite already knowing) Snape were all crowded around the table. Bill, the eldest Weasley brother, winked at Ari from his spot next to Fleur, his part-Veela wife, and Ari managed to smile back. Fleur briefly smiled as well, and Ari looked at Taylor. He was gazing at her intently, and kissed her softly when their eyes met.

"I love you," he whispered, just as Dumbledore called the meeting to order.

Much of the meeting was information being passed around, and Ari actually found herself staring at odd shapes in the wooden kitchen table before something interesting came to her ears. "...Some of the people in this room already know, some don't, but I feel confident in disclosing the information--as long as Ari and Harry agree."

Ari and Harry looked at each other, then Dumbledore, shock evident in their faces. "What?" Ari asked blankly. Several of the gathered had to stifle sniggers; they had noticed Ari and Ginny starting to nod off and Ron had been staring much too intently at the ceiling to be completely plausible. "Oh... yeah, okay," Ari stammered.

"All of you know, due to Voldemort's own tendency to brag, that he is the Heir of Slytherin." Nods around the table. "Well, we have... three, really, Heirs of Gryffindor in this room." This statement was met with startled gasps and cries of disbelief. "Ari, Harry, and Abby."

"Well that explains a lot," Bill said, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. "Makes it much clearer why Ari and Harry would be chosen as his mortal enemies. The question is, does Voldemort know this?"

"No," Abby whispered. It was the first time she had spoken during the entire meeting, and every eye in the room was drawn sharply to her. "I only found out around the time my parents were murdered and the... method... was very cryptic. If he knows it's come from suspicion only."

"I didn't know till a few weeks ago," Ari supplied just as quietly; Harry nodded his agreement.

"That isn't even the most monumental statement of the night, however," Dumbledore said; Ari felt his eyes boring into her and she wished she could disappear through the floor. "Sirius? Abby? Remus?"

Ari had long since returned her gaze to the table, her hair hiding her face, as her father replied. "There is... a chance... that the charms James and I worked out may have held. Ari's been having flashes, nothing really solid yet, but..."

Thankfully, he was drowned out by gasps and outbursts around the table. Ari was actually shaking, and cut across the noise to reveal what she had not been able to tell anyone yet. She had deliberately brought the note down, and slapped it onto the table. The entire room fell silent, waiting for her to move her hand. When she did, Dumbledore took the note and read it silently once, then aloud.

"Ari,
I wish I could talk freely but that's not possible,

since this could be intercepted. You'll know it all in

just a couple days. I know your parents never had much

patience but hopefully you've got a bit more.

-Lily"

An explosion rocked the house to its very foundations, and Ari was the first to hurtle out of the kitchen and up to Taylor's bedroom. She looked out the window and started to scream in shock and terror, but a strong hand covered her mouth and absorbed the sound.

Just outside the window, hooded figures were silhouetted in the fading winter sunlight--Death Eaters. A length of dark hair was caught up in the wind, and Ari let out a strangled cry and began trembling; the hoods soon blew away from the faces of Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Lucius.

Taylor turned so he and Ari were facing away from the window and held her tight. She finally calmed enough to think rationally, but was still shaking. At long last she opened her eyes, but instantly regretted it as she lost her dinner spectacularly. Abby looked up and cleaned the floor, her own head spinning even as Sirius gently massaged her temples.

"What the bloody hell-?" Ron ejaculated, looking between Ari and Abby.

Ari and Abby exchanged a Look, and Ari shrugged weakly, urging her mother to answer. "I can't really give you a solid answer on that, but I can tell you she got it from me. And it's a right pain in--"

Another loud blast cut her off--followed by an extremely disconcerting ring of the doorbell. Ari skidded into the hallway just as her father pulled the door open, just for a moment, and shut it again. Abby smiled at her and slipped back downstairs into the kitchen as a small, almost imperceptible ripple of motion moved through the room. Sirius smiled to see her standing there and motioned for her to come down to the kitchen with him.

Quiet murmurs reached Ari's ears, and it took a minute for her brain to process what her eyes were seeing. Sitting between Sirius and Dumbledore were two people she could only recognize by their weary voices: James and Lily.