See You Again

-𝕍-

Ara lay in her four-poster bed, with the curtains drawn, silently berating herself for panicking like a moron. She knew she was going to have to face them, but she thought she'd have a little more time to amp herself up for it. The room door creaked, and she silently sat up and peeked through the curtains. Oh no... she knew that face. She had stared at the photo of that face for hours. Her mother, Lily Evans. With her long silky red hair, big blue eyes, and freckles. Did she have to be dorm mates with her of all people? Most people would be excited for this opportunity, but Ara... well, her feelings for her mother were... complicated.

At first, she loved her mother just as she loved her father. But things changed after her third year. Dumbledore had told her that her mother sacrificed herself to save little her, but she never believed in the whole thing being the reason for her survival. I mean, plenty of mothers and fathers died for their children; it never made any difference for them. But Ara did truly believe Lily sacrificed herself to save her... which she couldn't help but blame herself for, for so long. It only made her love her mother more, until third year. Ara learned a lot about that night because of the damned Dementors, that she couldn't help but want to unlearn.

Such as her mother planning to give her up to Voldemort after her father already died trying to save them. How she left Ara in her crib and picked up a piece of jewelry while whispering the same word over and over again. Fourth year she realized it was a portkey her mother had, and it wasn't working. Which is why Lily threw it at the wall and began looking for something else (The cloak). But she couldn't find it either because Dumbledore must have had it by then. When Voldemort had smashed his way into the room, it seemed he had reached his wits end because as her mother began screaming "Take her! Please! I don't want to die!" He didn't so much as hesitate to kill her on the spot.

But what hurt worst of all was that her parents' love was a lie. All because of a stupid necklace around her mother's neck. She'd trapped her father and he didn't even realize it until it was too late.

In her fourth year, when Ara was forced into the tournament, while doing some research for the second task so she could breathe underwater, Ara stumbled upon an old myth of sorts: The lost necklace of Siren Cantabilla. It was a story of a siren who was caught by a witch, who had created a spell that would trap the Siren's lure into a necklace. Said witch then used the necklace to lure and marry her long-unrequited love. The witch had murdered the Siren and dumped her into the sea; however, the sea was unforgiving and sought retribution, taking the witch, her love, and the boat down to its depths. The necklace was said to be lost forever. Only for Ara to recognize the said necklace in the drawing, being around her mother's neck the night she died.

Death had filled her in on a lot of things during their little face-to-face. One of which was that Lily had found the necklace during their seventh year in the Room of Requirement. Apparently, it was washed ashore and was found by a witch who eventually realized the necklace's power and hid it away in the room, hoping that it would never be found. Clearly, not the brightest witch, but at least she had morals.

She also learned that Lily was secretly in love with her father for years but acted otherwise. That she did, in fact, eventually learn about the necklace she found and its lure, but chose to keep it. And that when Ara's father's parents passed away prior to her birth, leading to James being given the Head of House Potter family ring, the lure was effectively blocked due to the powerful family magic built up from generations. Only to have to go into hiding because of the damned prophecy. Apparently, her father was planning to secretly divorce Lily and gain custody over Ara as soon as it was safe, but well... Peter betrayed them. James had died with no one knowing the truth.

So, yes! Ara's feelings for her mother were very complicated. Bordering murderous rage complicated. But, this Lily is still technically innocent of said crimes. However, that didn't mean Ara would like her or even get along with her. Though there is one thing Ara knew without a doubt: Lily will never find that necklace! Because she will destroy it before anyone could ever find it!