Mindy was off the hook.
She used an unforgivable curse and the Ministry voted. Mindy only needed to complete 1800 hours of community service and was practically grounded for the beginning half of the term
"This is insane, Dumbledore. I don't understand how this is possible. Mindy used an unforgivable curse!" Aries paced in the older man's office.
"As it seems, Miss Farfield used a rather childish tactic, seeing as she persuaded the ministry so easily." Dumbledore furrowed his brows in thought.
Aries stopped her pacing and stared at Dumbledore, "she told them she was attempting to use a spell to create hair growth and it resulted in the use of the unforgivable curse. Mindy is second best in charms! She knows the difference between a charm and a curse by now!" Aries yelled, "something is off with all of this. The ministry isn't this daft, stupid sure, but not this oblivious. Adults using an unforgivable curse don't even get a hearing! They get sent straight to Azkaban!" She ranted.
"Nobody else knew about the accident, Miss Black. The only way you could have any other alibi is if Mr. Lupin testified himself. And from what I recall, he doesn't remember much of anything after he boarded the train to Hogwarts. But even if he could...I don't think it would be worth all the trouble." Dumbledore shook his head.
Aries scoffed, "I can't just let Mindy off the loose, Dumbledore." She shook her head. Though she thought for a moment before looking back to the white haired man.
"I have a hunch over a group of students here. I think they might death eaters or going to become them." Aries started, remembering Mindy was apart of both occurrences she had heard and seen.
"Do you have any names to report?" Dumbledore asked folding his hands together, not bothering to ask of the conciliation. Aries could feel him trying to get into her head, but kept herself stable and locked.
"Yes...and no." Dumbledore raised his brow, "I have a deal I'm willing to make if you are." Aries spoke, a slight snapping tone telling the older man it would be one to think about.
"The names? In return for what Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked.
"I want to be the one to put Mindy Farfield in Azkaban." Aries said simply, "she's the only one I could murder and not have a twinge of regret." Dumbledore knew the look Aries held in her eyes. He knew it well. One holding pain from the past, torture, loss of innocence, regret, heartbreak. But also one of determination, fearlessness, recovery, and strength. Though it reminded him of the boy he met in that children's home all those years ago, he still saw the heart Aries had yet to show the world.
Aries held her hand out, ready for the deal to be sealed. Dumbledore asked only one question, "does this also qualify as your answer to my job request?" The older man saw the flash of hesitation hit Aries eyes before she blinked it away.
"Yes." Aries said simply before the two sealed the deal, a spark erupting from their hands before it exploded into a mini firework.
"Welcome to the Order Of The Phoenix, Aries."
__________
Breakfast had already started by the time Aries made it to the Great Hall. The girl looked over at the Slytherin table seeing Marlene half asleep. Defense Against the Dark Arts study night was absolutely ridiculous. Marlene had the worst end of it seeing as she barely ever did her homework for Professor Hardwin and needed a lot of work in her physical defense.
With all of this, Marlene was having a difficult time trying figure out whether she could block a few spells because she moved her wand the wrong direction or she was saying the words wrong.
Keeping these mishaps in mind, the Aries and Marlene stayed up later than usual to master these skills. Though it didn't actually happen, the girls were very close, and to which Marlene ended up passing out merely two minutes after arriving to their common room.
Aries decided since the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw match was today, she might go and cheer on her friends.
"Good morning." Aries spoke, sitting in between Remus and Peter.
"Morning, darling." Remus spoke as he rested his left arm on her waist as kissed her temple, before going back to eating.
"Good morning Mere." Peter smiled kindly as well, though he looked back to Sirius and James in concern, "you two should eat, gain some strength before the big ga-"
Before Peter could finish, Aries put her hand over his mouth, "they'll puke if you finish that sentence." She whispered. James and Sirius, sitting across from the three, looked as if they could hurl at any given moment.
"Is it always like this before...you know?" Aries asked looking back and forth from James to Sirius.
"Just about every time." Remus nodded.
"How come you're not ready to double over any second?" Peter asked curiously looking at Remus.
The boy shrugged, "I went to practice a bit this morning but I ended up seeing the Ravenclaw Quidditch team out there before I had the chance. In my defense, I think we're going to win. Seeing as James is such a good chaser and Sirius is a rock solid beater, fat chance we'll lose." Remus explained making the two boys look at him with wide eyes.
"You saw them practicing?" James said hopefully.
"I am a rock solid beater aren't I." Sirius smirked, proudly puffing his chest before digging hungrily into his food.
"I did, our seeker will definitely find the snitch first." Remus nodded.
James grinned, a smug look overtaking his face as he too began eating.
As the boys ate and Aries gathered her food, the girls happened to find their way over to the Marauders as well.
"Nervous over the match, Black?" Marlene said as she plopped down beside the dark haired boy.
"Course not, you'll be watching Gryffindor win today." Sirius responded with a knowing smirk, running a hand through his hair as it fell into his face.
Marlene rolled her eyes and pulled a red hair tie off of her wrist before getting up and standing behind Sirius, who watched her in confusion.
"Don't be daft and look forward." Marlene didn't give him a chance to question as she turned his head and started putting his lengthy hair in a ponytail.
Lily herself had decided to sit beside James, seeing as Alice was seated beside Peter.
"Ow!" Sirius whined as Marlene pulled a bit too hard on his hair, twisting the hair tie to finish the process.
"Sorry." Marlene said quietly, a mischievous grin beginning to take over her expression as she sat down. Instead of ignoring him like she always had, Marlene whispered something into his ear making him gulp and a blush slightly coloring his cheeks.
Aries choked slightly on her pumpkin juice, eyes wide as she kicked Marlene's leg from under the table, "you alright there, Aries?" Remus asked as the girl coughed a bit.
"Fine, fine, just went down the wrong pipe is all." Aries said making Marlene giggle.
Though Marlene wasn't the only one seeming to be giving a boy a chance, Lily and James looked to be in a well started conversation. Though only one of them looked as if they could faint from happiness.
Alice and Peter had gotten into a rather interesting conversation over whether Muggle school was more or less difficult than wizarding school.
Aries glanced at Remus, noticing he was staring at her, a small smile pulling at her lips. "I do remember a time when we made a bit of a wager." Remus started, peaking Aries attention.
"Alright, what'll it be this time." Aries asked taking a bite of a waffle.
"How about, if Gryffindor wins, I get the pleasure of taking you out on a date." This deal happened to put the attention on Aries and Remus, seeing as their friends had gone quiet in interest.
"Hm, and if Ravenclaw wins?" Aries asked raising a brow.
"Well Ravenclaw won't win, but if they do, you decide what happens next." Remus shrugged.
Aries but her lip for a moment before deciding with a nod, "you're on Lupin, you've got yourself a deal." Remus grinned as the girls wiggled their brows and the boys cheered a holler.
"Now now boys, let's go win a match!" James yelled as the Gryffindor team began getting rather loud and exited the Great Hall with the rest of the Gryffindor fans.
"The match doesn't start for another hour, why is everyone going to the pitch now?" Lily asked.
"Because usually the bleachers tend to fill around fourth five minutes before it starts." Alice answered.
The girls sat in silence for a moment before looking down at their pajama clad bodies, "we should go get dressed." Marlene said in realization.
"Probably"
___________
Since Aries didn't like heights all that much and Madame Pomfrey had asked her to go to the Quidditch match in her place, the girl ended up staying down on the ground for any fallen players.
"Come to wish us luck as well?" Duncan Inglebee asked making Aries turn around.
"Only if you think you'll need luck to win." Aries countered making the team chuckle.
"It's not about luck, or strength for that matter. You just need to outsmart the enemy." Chloe Davies grinned, wiggling her brows.
"Of course, the question is, can you outsmart them?" Aries asked slyly, "though I do wish you all good luck." She shrugged.
"Which side are you on exactly?" Duncan asked furrowing his brows.
"I'm a Slytherin, I'm not on a side." She giggled before walking over to where the Gryffindor team had just come out.
"Ready to win or ready to lose?" Aries asked Sirius as he nudged her with his shoulder.
"Im ready to win." Sirius nodded, though his brows furrowed when he looked over at a rather nervous looking Ravenclaw team.
"What did you do?" Remus asked as Jessie McLaggen helped Alice into her left glove and Remus her right.
Aries faked a gasp, "I didn't do anything except share a few words." She shrugged, a mischievous grin now on her pink lips.
James chuckled, "well whatever you said surely helped." He ruffled his hair as he saw Lily walk by with Marlene and Alice. Honey had been practically dragging Ben over to the stands while he childishly whined.
"Stop being a baby, it's Quidditch!" Honey said waving her hands around to emphasize her point.
"I told you, I want to rehearse, there will be other Quidditch matches." Ben sighed.
"There will be other days to rehearse." Honeys words made Ben gasp.
"Using my words against me, how dare you!" Ben said, though Honey didn't seem to care as she took his hand once more, leading him up to the bleachers.
"Who do you think will propose, Honey or Ben?" James asked.
"Probably Honey." Marlene said
"Most likely Ben." Sirius had said with her in unison.
Marlene raised a brow in the dark haired boys direction, "you wanna bet?" She asked, daring him with her eyes.
Sirius bit his lip, smirking, before stepping up to her, "how about it? 5 galleons it'll be Ben."
Marlene giggled slyly, "10 galleons it'll be Honey, one month after graduation." She wagered as the rest of the group watched their banter in amusement.
"Deal"
"Deal"
The two shook on it, forgetting to let go for a moment as they stared each other down. Though what happened next was a complete shock.
Marlene had taken hold of the collar of Sirius' jersey and smashed her lips on his. Remus and James' jaws had dropped while Aries had given Alice 2 galleons.
Peter was looking away, red faced, and Lily was finding the ground rather fascinating.
As the two pulled apart, Marlene had taken a warm glow to her cheeks, Sirius was still wide eyed and sporting the biggest blush anyone had ever seen.
"Good luck, Black." Marlene had whispered quietly to him while he made a sort of sound of acknowledgment.
Marlene had taken Alice and Peters arms before walking up to the bleachers.
"Bloody hell." Sirius had said, running his thumb over his now red lips.
Remus and James, both having similar ideas, turned to Lily and Aries. The two immediately rolling their eyes and scoffing, "no way." Lily shook her head and heading off to the bleachers as well, only then did Aries notice the Gryffindor scarf around her neck with the number 5 on it.
James Potters number
"Since when did you and Lily get so close?" Aries asked turning towards James who seemed to no longer be holding back his dreaming gaze.
"Since I took your advice over break, I stopped trying to get Evans to go out with me and rather impress her with improving my studies. It seems to be working." James said with a grin.
"Awww, I'm glad." Aries cooed cheekily.
"AND LETS GET STARTED, OUR RAVENCLAW TEAM, LETS HEAR IT FOR OUR TEAM BLUE!" Gideon Prewett called out, the Ravenclaw team quickly getting on their brooms and flying up to the sound of cheering.
"Gryffindors next, be careful out there." Aries said before leaning up and giving Remus a soft, short and sweet kiss, "good luck." She smiled to Remus as he grinned.
His heart now pulsing in his chest from the cheers but now from the kiss, "AND NOW FOR OUR GRYFFINDOR TEAM, LETS HEAR IT FOR OUR TEAM RED!!!" Fabian Prewett called out.
James got in his broome first, the rest of the teens following suit before flying out and hearing twice the amount of cheering from the crowds.
Well this is going to be fun
___________
I couldn't help myself, I had to write this chapter out tonight otherwise yall would tackle me with questions. And now you probably have more because of Mindy Farfield.
So it's obvious the Ministry has already started becoming oblivious, and now Mindy Farfield is doing community service instead of going to Azkaban, weird right?
Stay on your toes for the next few chapters!!
Oh and by the way, don't forget to comment some couple names for all these characters! Love to find some for Remus and Aries, along with Lily and James and Marlene and Sirius.
Thanks for reading! So close to 100k!
Love y'all
-Brooke