Humming to himself as he walked through the halls of St. Mungo's, Alphard made his way to Orion's supposed room. Nodding in kindness with a small smirk as he passed a gaggle of nurses, he finally entered Orion's room with a nice twirl showcasing his arrival. Though his eyes widened in shock seeing the girl sleeping next to Orion as he slowly ate his breakfast. 'Bloody hell! A bit young for you, ain't she?' He sputtered out in disbelief. Orion sent him an irritated glare, which he smiled back cheekily in return. Quickly he plucked a grape off Orion's tray as he took a seat in the chair next to the bed, before leaning back and folding his arms behind his head and resting his feet on the edge of the mattress. Orion, once again shot him an irritated glare before huffing out, 'Considering I'm still breathing... She's obviously not what you're insinuating.' Alphard smirked back at him mischievously, 'Ah, that's right! The loyalty stipulation! Then who is the beautiful sleeping lass? Looks like she had a rough night!' Orion picked up a grape and tossed it at Alphard with, yet again, another glare. 'Her name is Adhara. She is my ward.' Alphard choked on air as he suddenly bolted upright in his seat. 'When the bloody hell did you get a ward!?' Orion smirked back at him, 'The 23rd of September.' Alphard sent him a glare this time, 'But today's the 3rd of October! Why didn't you tell me sooner!?' He huffed out. Orion's smirk grew wider, 'Because then I wouldn't get the pleasure of seeing you throw a tantrum at not knowing.' Alphard opened his mouth to retort but quickly closed it, as he pointedly looked away. 'Hurry up and eat, so I can fill out your papers to go home...' he mumbled out annoyed.
Barty sat on the window seat in the library at Potter Manor, staring at the gloomy sky that matched his mood. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Every waking moment she occupied his thoughts... He missed her enchanting laugh, her captivating smile, her mismatched eyes that glowed beautifully and the way they'd talk for hours about everything and nothing. He leaned his head against the window, letting out a long sigh as he reminisced...
They sat side by side on the dock at the Black Lake as the setting sun painted the sky with hues of orange and pink, Barty casually skipping stones.
Ara glanced at Barty with a playful smile, 'You know, if you keep skipping stones like that, the giant squid might mistake them for an invitation to a game of catch.'
Barty let out a snort, 'Well, that wouldn't be such a bad thing, would it? I'd finally get to see how good my Quidditch skills are against an opponent of that size.'
Ara raised her brow, 'Confident, are we? I'd love to see you try to outfly the Giant Squid. It could be quite the spectacle.'
'Maybe you'd be up for a little competition too? You know, just to see who can impress the Giant Squid more.' Barty replied, cheekily.
Ara rolled her eyes, as she let out a little laugh, 'Oh, is that what you're after? The admiration of magical sea creatures? Quite the unique goal, I must say.'
Barty looked at Ara, with a small smile. 'Well, I must admit. Impressing a certain little lion would be more of a triumph.'
She turned to look back at him with a beaming smile, 'First squids, now lions, whatever is next? Should I warn the centaurs!'
A few moments passed as they stared at one another, before they both burst into laughter. Calming down, they both locked eyes and slowly began leaning closer and closer... -
'Barty!' Regulus yelled in his ear, scaring him out of his memories. 'Bloody hell! What!?' Barty yelled back as he rubbed his ear with a grimace. 'My Father's about to return and Mrs. Pott- Ephy, wants us to all help with preparing breakfast. Come on!' Barty let out a little groan as he followed Regulus, sullenly, to the kitchen.
'You ready?' Orion whispered from behind Ara. She anxiously tapped her fingers against her leg as she let out a puff of air, 'As I'll ever be...' Alphard let out a snort, 'Well, isn't she just cheerful!' he mumbled to himself, though it wasn't quite as low as he thought, as Orion whacked him upside the head. Ara let out a laugh at Alphard's dramatic reaction, as he began cursing in very colorful language. Alphard suddenly stopped his cursing with a smirk, seeing her laughing. 'Excellent! Now we can go!' And he swiftly made his way to the Floo. 'Is he always like that?' Ara asked Orion, smiling at Alphard's back in disbelief. 'Unfortunately...' Orion mumbled back to her, suppressing his own smirk. 'Where to?' Alphard called. 'Potter Manor.' 'I'm sorry what!? Since when are you chummy with the Potter's? What else don't I know?' Alphard ranted at him in bewilderment, and Ara failed to suppress her snort (Boy, was his mine gonna be blown at just how much he didn't know!). 'We'll talk when we get there.' Orion spoke, putting an end to his second round of ranting before it began.
'Are they here yet?' Regulus asked once again, to the annoyance of Sirius. 'No, Reggie! For the last time I will tell you -' He quickly cut himself off seeing the flames flare up in the fireplace. 'They're here!' Sirius called out, as his Uncle Alphard stepped through the Floo first. 'Uncle Alphard?' 'Ah, Sirius, my boy!' Alphard cheered as he tugged Sirius into a hug, before spotting Regulus, 'Ah, there's little Reggie! And you two are in the same room... by choice?' He quickly questioned looking back and forth from one to the other, puzzled. The flames flared up once again as Orion stepped out, 'Dad!' Regulus beamed, glad to see his father was okay. Sirius quickly checked him over with his eyes, before letting out a sigh of relief. 'Glad to see you're all right, Orion!' Monty stated, entering the room alongside Ephy and the other boys. 'Glad to see you're okay, Mr. Black.' The boys echoed one after the other, Orion nodding in return. 'Well, breakfast is ready. I do hope you'll be joining us, Alphard.' Euphemia stated. 'Of course! Orion still has to fill me in on everything.' Alphard replied with a pointed look aimed at Orion. 'You'll also need to set down one more plate, Ephy.' Orion stated. 'Oh, who else -' Ephy cut herself off, noticing the fire flare up once again and everyone redirected their gaze to the Floo.
A nervous and awkward Ara stumbled out of the Floo, quickly grabbing onto Orion's arm, catching herself before she could fall. Slowly looking up, sheepishly, she sputtered out, 'H-Hi!' with a hesitant wave. The room was full of complete and utter silence as they stared back at her, wide eyed and jaws dropped in shock. 'I-I know you're all probably really ma-' She suddenly was engulfed into a hug from a sobbing James, faster than she could blink. 'YouareinsomuchtroubledoyouknowhowscaredIwas!!! ' He rambled out in tears, as he hugged her even tighter. Though his reaction seemed to bring everyone out of their shock as the boys all started rambling at her. 'How could you just leave!?' 'What were you thinking!?' 'Do you know how scared we were!?' One after another, she tried to hear them all out but it was way too much and she didn't know who to focus on. Orion noticed how overwhelmed she was getting and suddenly bellowed out, 'SILENCE!' Effectively shutting them all up, minus the sniffling James still clung to her. Orion cleared his throat, 'I'm sure you will all get your chance to speak, until then... I believe breakfast is waiting, shall we?' Reluctantly the boys nodded and made their way to the dining room, followed by the adults, leaving behind James and Ara.
'Da- James...' Ara whispered as she gently patted his back, hoping to calm him down. James reluctantly pulled back and wiped the tears off his face, before giving her a very stern look (Did he practice that in the mirror?). 'You left. You promised you wouldn't and then you did! And what happened to you!?' He said in a panic, once he finally noticed all her cuts, bruises and dried up blood. She looked down at the ground guiltily, 'I'll explain later and I know I broke my promise... I'm sorry. I just, the attack at Hogsmeade never happened in my original timeline. I got scared and I didn't want - I -' She stopped herself to take a calming breath before continuing, 'I came back so you all wouldn't have to go through that, and no matter where I go - it follows. I didn't want to have to watch you all die in front of me again, and I didn't want you all to have to watch me...' She finished in a whisper, fighting off her tears. 'Ara, you aren't-' 'Yes I am, James. I'm going to -' 'Ara -' 'You can't stop it.' She quickly spoke, silencing him, 'You can't. And I know you really want to, all of you. But you can't run from Death, a deal is a deal. I need you to accept that...' A few moments of silence passed then James broke into tears once again, as he fell back onto the couch, 'How am I supposed to accept that? Y-You're my daughter and I can't even do anything to save you!' He croaked out. She slowly took a seat next to him and took his hand into hers. 'I'll be fine, I don't need to be saved. I just need you all to live.'
'I'm sorry, WHAT!?' Alphard shouted in disbelief, 'That girl is from the future!! And she came back to save us from this Voldemort fellow and Dumbledore, who is a secret evil mastermind of sorts! But in order to come back she made some deal with Death, exchanging her soul!' Everyone around the table nodded their heads, 'Yep!' 'Sounds about right!' 'That sums it up!' Alphard stared incredulously back at them. 'Well, all right then!' Sirius looked back at him shocked, 'That's it?' Alphard raised his brow as he looked back at Sirius, amused. 'Yep! Either you are all messing with me and this is some elaborate prank or... she's from the future! The future seems more believable after everything that's happened this past month.' Regulus stared back at Alphard in disbelief, though he quickly pulled himself together spotting James walking into the room. 'How'd it go?' Euphemia asked, while looking around him for Ara. 'She's getting cleaned up before joining us...' He answered sullenly, as he plopped into his chair and rested his head on the table. 'That bad, huh?' Sirius mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from Remus. Orion cleared his throat gaining everyone's attention, 'Right, well since she's getting cleaned up... now's probably as good a time as ever to inform you that Ara has taken care of Dumbledore.' 'WHAT!?' chorused the group. Abraxas raised his brow at Orion, 'You mean she... "took care of him" or -' 'Killed him.' 'Bloody hell!' chorused a few of the group, 'But even Voldemort's scared to go against Dumbledore...' Remus mumbled, shocked.
She stood outside the door that had her name engraved on it. Would this have been her room if the prophecy never happened? Taking a deep breath she opened the door, 'B-Barty?' Barty quickly stood up from the spot he was sitting in, on the end of her bed. He quickly walked over to her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Her eyes widened in shock for a moment, before she promptly closed them and returned the kiss with just as much passion. After a few moments they broke apart, breathless, as he leaned his forehead against hers. 'Now that's how you're supposed to end a date...' he mumbled, causing her to snort. He pulled her against him into a tight embrace, tucking her head under his chin. 'I was scared I was never gonna see you again...,' he whispered. 'I'm sorry...,' 'As you should be, giving us all a heart attack.' Barty retorted without any heat. 'Barty, I - I'm really glad I got to see you again...' 'Me too.' *Smack* They reluctantly broke apart and looked at the window to see an owl on the ledge. Ara quickly moved to the window and opened it, the owl hopped inside and held out its leg. Shrugging, she quickly untied it, 'It's for James...' Barty let out a sigh, 'I'll give it to him, while you clean up and think of a lie to tell me about your injuries.' Ara let out a laugh, 'No lie, but it is quite a story...' Barty shook his head, amused, 'Well, I look forward to hearing it.' Quickly plucked the letter from her hand and did a little bow before leaving the room.
Barty quickly made his way to the dining room, no longer a moping mess as he dropped the letter in front of James and plopped into his seat between Lucius and Severus. 'What's this?' James questioned, Barty just shrugged as he served himself a plate finally, 'Don't know, owl just dropped it off for you.' Everyone was still a little paranoid with letters and did several scans on it before James hesitantly opened it. 'It's from... Peter.' 'What's he want?' Sirius grumbled. James quickly read through the letter as everyone watched with curiosity, 'He wanted to let me know that some of the suspected Death Eater kids at Hogwarts, have been trying to get information about Ara.' Barty choked on his juice, 'Information on Ara!? Why?' Orion let out a sigh, 'Hogsmeade!'