See You Again

-𝕏𝕏𝕀-

He watched her walk up to the portrait and tickle the pear, so they could enter the kitchens. How did she know where the kitchen was already? How did she know how to get in? As soon as they entered, like usual, they were swarmed by the Hogwarts elves. But what truly shocked him was how kind she was to them. He'd only ever seen Regulus be kind to the creatures before now. He didn't even realize he was smiling as he watched her introduce herself to each one and give them a thankful hug. Naturally, this led to them crying as they sang her praises. He felt... funny. Was he ill? Coming back to his senses, he quickly moved towards the table as he gently grabbed her wrist again, pulling her along with him.

"Thank you, Mimzy," she spoke with a smile to the elf as they were given their breakfast.

He cleared his throat before saying, less confidently than normal, "Yes. Thank you, Mimzy," which earned him one of Ara's radiant smiles. Maybe he should go see Madam Pomfrey? Is the flu going around? He took a sip of his juice. "So, why are you pretending to have—" He waved his hand around his head, "You know?" Not wanting to say the actual word in case the elves were eavesdropping. She gave him a stare which quite literally said, "We're not talking about this right now," before taking a bite of her strawberry. Naturally, he did the completely grown and mature thing to do. He huffed while crossing his arms and possibly pouted a little. Which evidently made her burst into laughter.

"Why are you laughing at me? It's not funny! It's mean."

"You're just—So—you!"

"Well who else would I be?" He asked incredulously, but she just started laughing again.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, she calmed down from her laughing fit. Though he wasn't complaining; he quite liked her laugh.

"Tell me, Barty, you're always asking me questions but when do I get to ask you some?"

"Well, ask away, little lion," he smiled back, cheekily.

And so, they spent the morning eating breakfast together as they got to know one another. Well, as much as you can get to know a Slytherin and a mysterious girl who has her secrets guarded better than the goblins guard your vaults at Gringotts.

"So... what do you want to do after Hogwarts?"

"Ministry work, unfortunately."

"No, Barty, I mean, what do you want to do? Not what your family wants."

He stared at her for a few moments. No one's really ever asked him what he genuinely wanted to do after. He was just always expected to work for the Ministry because it's what his father wanted. It's how it was for most of the purebloods. Do as your parents expect. No ifs, ands, or buts.

"Well... I..." He never really told anyone his dream before. He felt so... vulnerable. But she sat there patiently as he tried to pull himself together. If anyone would listen to him and not judge him, it'd be her. He directed his gaze to the table before mumbling, "I love magical theory. I think if I had a choice I'd want to travel the world and learn all about—well, magic. There's still so much unknown about magic and how it's all the same yet also so remarkably different everywhere around the world..." He said lamely as he trailed off. He looked up, curious to see what she thought, only to see her smiling at him beautifully.

"I think that's a wonderful dream, Barty. I hope you get to do it."

He momentarily forgot to breathe. Yeah, he definitely needed to go to the Hospital Wing! He was supposed to hang out with Lucius, Severus, and Regulus like usual today, but he was having such a great time. So, instead, he spent the rest of the day with Adhara. Much to the chagrin of his friends and the lurking Marauders. He even momentarily forgot about trying to weasel out some answers from her—until they decided to sit by the Black Lake for a bit after dinner.

"Are you in danger?" He suddenly questioned, surprising them both.

"What?"

He turned his gaze away from the lake to look at her face to face. "The Amnesia, the hiding your name, the... way you arrived. Are you in danger?"

An array of emotions flickered in her eyes as she opened her mouth to speak but closed it several times. "I don't want to lie to you, Barty..." She finally whispered, sullenly.

"So don't. Talk to me, Ara. I swear! I won't say a thing to anyone."

She gave him the most heartbreaking look he'd ever seen before. He didn't like seeing that look on her face.

What was she supposed to say? Not only would she sound like an absolute lunatic! She didn't think she'd be able to tell him about the horrid future he had. She came back to change all of that, to prevent that future from ever happening for the people she cared about. Barty included! And if he knew... if he knew everything... he could possibly try to stop her from doing what she needs to do. It was at that moment she realized how attached she'd become to Barty. Was he also becoming attached? She felt herself starting to panic slowly. This wasn't good! He can't become attached! None of them can!

"I—I—" She felt a tightening in her chest as she found it a bit difficult to breathe.

"Ara, breathe," Barty spoke gently as he stared at her in concern. Why was she having a panic attack? He gently put his hands on her cheeks and tried his best to calm her down, to talk her through it. "Ara. Breathe with me, alright. Deep breath in... Deep breath out..."

Finally, after a few minutes of following Barty's guidance, she was back to breathing normally. However, he was still very concerned, as he still cupped her face gently. "Ara—"

"We can't be friends," she suddenly said.

Of all the things he expected to hear, that wasn't one of them! Why did it hurt so much hearing it? "W-what? Why not?"

She suddenly stood up and went to walk away, but he quickly got up and blocked her. "Why not?" He repeated.

"Barty, please... just—"

"No. Talk to me! Why can't we be friends?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you!"

"Well not being my friend is hurting me!" He shot back.

"We can't—"

"Why not!?"

"Because I'm gonna die!" She suddenly gasped and put her hands over her mouth as her eyes widened.

She ran off.

He wanted to say something—to go after her! But he couldn't bring himself to move. She was gonna die? How? Why? He didn't know how long he stood there. He just kept going over everything in his head. A girl he just met... a girl who was kind, funny, and shined brightly like the star she was named after... was gonna die. Adhara was gonna die. He felt an aching feeling deep within him. It hurt! Why did it hurt? Regaining his movement, he slowly and silently made his way to the Hospital Wing. He didn't even respond to Madam Pomfrey as he just collapsed onto one of the beds, hand over his heart. What does she have? When will she die? How much time does he have with her? Why did imagining a world without her in it feel so... wrong?