Determination|| Remus lupin

Chapter six

Remus and Ariana entered potions together. The other marauders were already there. Ariana sat in the spare seat next to Peter, which was the only spare seat anyway. Not that she minded, she actually quite like the shy boy. The Slytherins walked in, their skin had gone green and silver. Everyone laughed, except from Ariana, who was drowning in confusion.

"Is that what we did?" She asked James, who nodded.

"Yes, see how fun it is?" He asked her with a grin.

"It is pretty funny." She admitted with a small smile.

Slughorn walked in and sent all of the slytherins to the hospital wing, where they came back in dribs and drabs.

Halfway through the lesson, Ariana groaned and banged her head on her desk, her dark hair falling over her face as she made another rather strange, pained noise. Peter patted her arm comfortingly.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked her, leaning back in his seat to look at her.

"I do not understand this!" She announced. Peter laughed.

"I feel the same." He told her. She smiled at him before looking back at Remus.

"I'll explain it to you." He told her. She nodded and moved over so he could share her seat.

After a long, confusing day of lessons, Ariana sat in the common room with the marauders, trying to make sense of her homework. She was sat in between Remus and Peter, opposite Sirius and James.

"Can I drop potions?" Ariana asked, crossing out yet another part of her potions essay. Her handwriting was legible, but barely, however she seemed to have some understanding of how to write an essay and understood more then she realised.

"You've had one lesson, you can't hate it that much." Sirius pointed out, finishing his own essay with a flourish and bringing out a list of pranks instead.

"So we've done the charming food one." He muttered, crossing it off, all of them gave him a confused look, since when was Sirius Orion Black the third organised?

"I can. It is pointless!" Ariana declared, bringing everyone back to the earlier conversation. "When am I ever going to make such a potion? Or even write about it?"

"Give it a term, you might like it when we actually make potions." Remus advised. She sighed, but nodded.

"Fine." She said, finishing it with a sigh and handing it to Remus for proof-reading. "Perhaps making potions is more fun than reading about them."

"How come you read hers, but not ours!" James exclaimed. Although he didn't actually need his work checking over, he liked to anyway, just in case.

"It's her first day of lessons." Remus shrugged without looking up from the parchment in his hands.

"Sure." James muttered disbelievingly, shaking his head..

Lily walked over to them.
"Ariana, can I talk to you?" She asked.

"Must you? I was just about to start the... What's it called... Charms homework." The girl answered with a sigh. "Could we please talk later?"

James looked up in surprise and upon seeing the red-head he grinned at her.
"Hey Evans-" she interrupted him.

"No potter. Ariana, please?"

Ariana nodded and got up. "Alright." She followed the redhead to the opposite corner of the common room.

" Is there something the matter?" She asked in confusion.

"I cant help but feel that we got of on the wrong foot. And i was just wondering if we could ignore all that and start again?" Lily asked.

Ariana nodded, and looked over at James before turning back to Lily. "Of course." She answered.

"Thanks. So, friends?" Lily held out her hand. Ariana shook it.

"Sure." She nodded. "I must ask, why do you deny yourself the obvious?"

" What?" Lily frowned. Ariana glanced to James again, Lily did the same.

"Potter? No, I don't like him." She answered.

"Lily, be careful. Rejection is the best form of emotional torture, for both."

"How do you know?" Lily looked surprised.

"Because I've been through it." She said calmly. "You like him, I can tell, he likes you, you would be rather... whats the word? Cute together."

"I don't know. It's confusing."

"Its okay Lily, I will see you later?" Ariana asked. Lily nodded.

" Sure, I'll introduce you properly to the others." Lily smiled.

"I would like that." Ariana smiled, she left the red-head and went back to the four boy's, who watched her approach with bemused expressions.

"Look at our Arie making friends!" Sirius cheered with a grin.

"You are an odd one Sirius." Ariana shook her head at him, and laughed.

"I take that as a compliment." Sirius laughed.

"So, what did Evan's want?" James asked.

"She thought we got off on the wrong shoe.... foot." Ariana answered with a frown.

" Did you?" Peter asked, she looked at him with a confused expression.

"I don't know, she's an odd one." She answered.

"In guessing you two are friends?" Remus answered.

" We are indeed."

The group spent the night talking and laughing, and when James and Sirius proposed a prank, Ariana declined having a part in it, she felt speaking was more the boys thing than hers, so she bid them goodnight and went upstairs to her dormitory, where Lily introduced her to Marlene, Mary and Alice, all of who were happy to meet her and included her into the gossip session they were having immediately.

For the first time in a long time, Ariana opened up a little about herself, and got to know the girls a bit better. She knew instantly her first impressions had been wrong and she was glad for the chance to get to know them, and to become friends with them.

Hogwarts seemed more like home then anything had.