See You Again

-𝕃𝕀𝕀𝕀-

She woke up extra early today full of excitement and nerves. Today was the day she and Barty would go to Hogsmeade together! Her first ever date! She was too excited to sleep any longer. Though Hogsmeade wouldn't be until the afternoon... she could still spend some time prepping for it. By the time she finished showering, getting dressed for the day and choosing what outfit to wear later, it was time for breakfast. Beaming, she made her way down, joining James, Sirius and Remus who were waiting for her at the exit of the common room. 'Morning!' she sing-songed to the boys, who stared back at her amused and curious. 'What's with you today?' snickered Sirius. 'Nothing! Just a good day is all, shall we?' Quickly she looped her arms with James and Sirius before leading them all out, putting an instant stop to any more of Sirius's inquiring questions. Though it didn't stop them all from exchanging amused glances with one another, which she promptly ignored.

The group finally made it to the Great Hall and took their usual seats, where they then began dishing themselves some breakfast. The loud screeches of the owls began as they came to deliver the morning mail, looking up and around, Ara quickly paused in eating her breakfast. 'Why are there so many this morning?' she asked, baffled. The boys paused and looked up at her confused, before they too began looking around at all the owls. 'A lot of them seem to be going towards the Slytherin table,' mumbled Remus, observantly. 'Letters...' mumbled James, 'Was there an event of some sort?' Sirius watched the Slytherin's closely as they opened their letters from their families, 'News... of some kind, it looks like.' Ara quickly spotted that Lucius had a letter as well, 'Lucius has one! We can figure out what's going on later.' she answered, smiling. 'Lucius?' James mouthed silently in question to Sirius. Though her smile suddenly fell when another owl came swooping in, dropping a letter for Regulus and soaring over to them to drop a letter to Sirius and... herself? Her and Sirius quickly exchanged bewildered glances before looking to Regulus who was mirroring them.

The three then looked down at their letter, 'It has the Black family seal...' mumbled Sirius. 'Why did Ara get one?' asked James, confused. Ara looked at him sheepishly, 'Well, um... you remember how Siri and Reg sort of... made up with their father...?' 'Uh-huh.' 'Well, I might have also... became the Black family .... ward...' she mumbled the last part, extra quietly. 'WHAT!' he shouted, shell shocked. Damn his Animagus hearing! She cursed in her head as she quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, smiling apologetically at the people who turned their heads towards them. 'It had to be done! Ori kne-' 'Ori?' questioned Remus and James at once, though she ignored them and continued. 'Ori knew about my... whereabouts and I had to improvise with Dumbles. So I became his ward.' 'Bloody hell!' Sirius whispered, cutting James off from his reply. The three turned their heads to see Sirius staring down at the now opened letter. 'What is it?' asked Remus, trying to lean over and peek. Sirius looked up at them, 'Dad had a meeting with a bunch of the other families yesterday, he told them about you-know-who and his origins!' he whispered to them. 'So the letters must be...' she trailed off as all of them looked back at the Slytherin table, coming to the same conclusion. It appears Tom is about to lose a lot of his followers...

Alice and Dorcas found her down by the Black lake with the boys. They came running up to her with huge smiles on their faces, 'It's time to get ready Ara!' cheered Alice. Ara was completely bewildered as the two of them looped their arm with hers and led her back to the dorm. 'H-how did.. -' 'Did you really think we wouldn't know about your date with Barty today!?' smirked Dorcas. 'The whole school is practically talking about it!' stated Alice, beaming. 'A Slytherin and Gryffindor, how romantically forbidden of you!' swooned Dorcas. 'How did the school find out?' questioned Ara, trying not to laugh at Dorcas and her mock fanning of herself. 'Nothing stays secret long at Hogwarts!' stated Alice, as if it was law. Ara snorted and couldn't help but think of how they'd react if they ever discovered, just how much managed to stay a secret! After being made to change several times, the two of them curling her hair and convincing her to try a little bit of makeup, she was finally all ready. Nervously she made her way down to the front gates, Barty was already waiting for her when she arrived. 'Were you waiting long?' Barty smirked, 'Would you call arriving five minutes earlier out of nervous excitement, long?' She let out a small laugh, 'Yes, I would.' 'You look beautiful, as always.' he whispered, while joining their hands. She didn't need a mirror to see she was blushing. 'And you look quite handsome, as always.' she responded with a small smirk, as the two began to walk.